The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has upended the largest player in the illicit Captagon trade in the world as journalists, civilians, and activists uncover industrial-scale production sites of the powerful stimulant.

The Wall Street Journal said that Syria’s drug trafficking empire was “the most profitable” in the Middle East and was the primary party responsible for fueling the use of Captagon — a stimulant that has fueled war and terrorism in the region since roughly 2011, when Syria’s civil war erupted.

The addictive stimulant has earned the nicknames “the drug of jihad” and “the poor man’s cocaine” because of its ability to keep users wide awake and give fighters extra confidence and stamina.

The Assad regime’s involvement in the production of the drug brought the dictator several billion dollars per year that he used to offset international sanctions.

Videos have emerged on social media showing tens of millions of pills from mass production sites at Syrian military air bases and other commercial businesses affiliated with Assad and his family.

Caroline Rose, an expert on the Captagon trade at the New Lines Institute, said that the evidence being uncovered proved that it was “systematically involved in Captagon production and trafficking.”

CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

“You can imagine the manpower, the resources that were required. It shows such investment into this illicit trade,” Rose said. “It penetrated so many elements of the regime: its political apparatus, patronage networks, the security apparatus.”

The drug is used by soldiers in Syria’s military and terrorists with ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah, those who work demanding jobs, students trying to study for longer hours, and recreationally by patrons of nightclubs.

There have been signs in recent years that the regime had pivoted from Captagon to methamphetamine, a move that only takes a few slight tweaks to the manufacturing process. The end result is a more addictive and powerful substance that is far deadlier and has greater negative societal impacts.

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​[[{“value”:”

The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has upended the largest player in the illicit Captagon trade in the world as journalists, civilians, and activists uncover industrial-scale production sites of the powerful stimulant.

The Wall Street Journal said that Syria’s drug trafficking empire was “the most profitable” in the Middle East and was the primary party responsible for fueling the use of Captagon — a stimulant that has fueled war and terrorism in the region since roughly 2011, when Syria’s civil war erupted.

The addictive stimulant has earned the nicknames “the drug of jihad” and “the poor man’s cocaine” because of its ability to keep users wide awake and give fighters extra confidence and stamina.

The Assad regime’s involvement in the production of the drug brought the dictator several billion dollars per year that he used to offset international sanctions.

Videos have emerged on social media showing tens of millions of pills from mass production sites at Syrian military air bases and other commercial businesses affiliated with Assad and his family.

Caroline Rose, an expert on the Captagon trade at the New Lines Institute, said that the evidence being uncovered proved that it was “systematically involved in Captagon production and trafficking.”

CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

“You can imagine the manpower, the resources that were required. It shows such investment into this illicit trade,” Rose said. “It penetrated so many elements of the regime: its political apparatus, patronage networks, the security apparatus.”

The drug is used by soldiers in Syria’s military and terrorists with ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah, those who work demanding jobs, students trying to study for longer hours, and recreationally by patrons of nightclubs.

There have been signs in recent years that the regime had pivoted from Captagon to methamphetamine, a move that only takes a few slight tweaks to the manufacturing process. The end result is a more addictive and powerful substance that is far deadlier and has greater negative societal impacts.

“}]] 

 

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