Syria announces seizure of 11 million captagon pills from Lebanon

The Syrian interior ministry said Monday that it had seized about 11 million captagon stimulant pills that entered the country from neighboring Lebanon in one of the largest busts since the fall of former ruler Bashar al-Assad.

In a statement, the interior ministry said “the anti-narcotics branch in Homs province seized a vehicle coming from Lebanon containing approximately 11 million captagon pills.”

The statement added that the authorities are continuing to “conduct the necessary investigations to uncover the identities of those involved and identify the criminal networks linked to the operation.”

Captagon, which is similar to amphetamines, became Syria’s largest export during the civil war that erupted in 2011, with its trade serving as a key funding source for the government of ousted president al-Assad.

Since his fall in December, the new authorities have reported numerous major seizures of captagon across the country. However, neighboring countries continue to report the interception of large shipments.

In Lebanon, al-Assad’s ally Hezbollah also faced accusations of using the captagon trade to finance itself.

The Lebanese military announced in September the seizure of 64 million captagon pills in the east in one of the largest operations against the illicit stimulant in the country.

The synthetic drug has flooded the region, with neighboring countries occasionally announcing seizures and asking Lebanon and Syria to ramp up efforts to combat the trade.