Crackdowns alone won't solve Syria's Captagon problem

Syrian police check seized drugs as they prepare to burn them in Damascus on February 25. Captagon has been manufactured in the country for years, earning its makers hefty profits as it became one of the more popular recreational drugs among affluent youth in the Middle East. EPAShow less

Shipments of the illegal and addictive amphetamine Captagon, one of the Middle East’s most dangerous illegal narcotics, is often concealed in everyday items in a way that belies the drug’s malign impact. An enormous haul of 1.1 million Captagon pills recently uncovered in Iraq – the country’s biggest – was hidden among a shipment of ironing boards inside a lorry that entered from Syria through Turkey.

The shipment's Syrian origin should come as no surprise. Captagon has been manufactured there for years, earning its makers hefty profits as it became one of the more popular recreational drugs among affluent youth in the Middle East and beyond. At one stage, independent experts cited by the UK government estimated the Captagon trade was worth several billion dollars – an amount that vastly outstripped Syria’s legal exports under the Bashar Al Assad government.

Although that government has fallen, the problem of Captagon remains, particularly as gangs continue to benefit from its trade. Syria’s interim administration is led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a militant group that has a record of cracking down on the drug’s production and distribution. During HTS forces’ advance from its Idlib stronghold in December, fighters were filmed uncovering and destroying drug labs and stores of Captagon tablets. Prior to its removal of the Assad government, HTS took action to disrupt Captagon smugglers in the areas under its control.

The National goes inside a Captagon factory seized by rebels in Syria

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Indeed, just hours after HTS took power in Syria, its leader – now Syria's President – Ahmad Al Shara told supporters inside Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque that the country “has become the biggest producer of Captagon on Earth, and today, Syria is going to be purified by the grace of God". However, it will take more than security crackdowns to eliminate the Captagon trade for good.

Finding and dismantling Captagon labs, big and small, will take time and resources that the new administration needs for other problems, such as keeping a lid on Syria’s sectarian tensions. Disrupting the trade could also antagonise those lower down the ladder who lack another way of making a living in a country with a ruined economy. In practical terms, a security response alone is not enough to uproot Captagon from Syria.

Providing real alternatives to illegal enterprises and restoring Syria’s economy are at the heart of the nation’s recovery

Instead, economic incentives and greater access to jobs are vital. One option put forward by some experts would be to restore the country’s pre-war role as the Middle East’s primary producer of medicines. Repurposing labs to produce pharmaceuticals and re-hiring technicians and workers would offer incentives to leave the dangerous and unpredictable black market behind. Such a plan would require finance, investment and more sanctions relief than seen thus far – for example, producers would need access to chemicals and equipment.

But if providing real alternatives to illegal enterprises and restoring Syria’s economy are at the heart of the nation’s recovery, then support for such innovative thinking could produce a blueprint for broader answers to the country’s many problems, not just ending the Captagon trade. Law enforcement co-operation, improved policing and arresting drug kingpins are all important strategies for banishing the scourge of Captagon, but offering people a better, legal way to support themselves and their families would undercut the drug’s networks for producers and traders.