Syrian authorities have announced the seizure of nearly half a million Captagon pills in a major operation targeting a drug manufacturing and smuggling network in the central city of Hama. According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, security forces arrested the ringleader along with several other members of the criminal group, marking another high-profile success in the country’s expanding campaign against the illicit narcotics trade.

The operation comes amid intensified efforts by Syria’s transitional government to dismantle what had become one of the world’s most entrenched drug production industries. For more than a decade, Captagon-a powerful amphetamine known for its stimulant effects-was at the center of a sprawling criminal economy that flourished during the civil war. The trade not only generated billions of dollars but also reshaped Syria’s international reputation, with the country widely described by Western governments and international organizations as the world’s largest narco-state under the Assad regime.

The bust in Hama underscores how deeply embedded Captagon production had become across Syria’s urban and rural landscapes. Once a legitimate pharmaceutical drug in the 1960s, Captagon re-emerged during the conflict as a cheaply manufactured synthetic stimulant, produced in clandestine laboratories and trafficked across borders to markets in the Gulf, North Africa, and beyond. Pills were often concealed in shipments of agricultural products, industrial goods, or building materials, enabling traffickers to evade detection and scale up operations.

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