Drugs with Assad fingerprints

A trial may shed light on the Middle East-Germany route and the involvement of Bashar al-Assad’s regime

250 kilograms of “Captagon” pills engraved on them were found by German authorities during a raid on a warehouse near the city of Regensburg a year ago. and destination Saudi Arabia.

Two Syrians, who are linked to the attack, are sitting in the Regensburg district court on Friday. According to authorities, they acted as intermediaries on behalf of a Lebanese-based drug trafficking organization and links to the regime in neighboring Syria.

Assad is a piece of the puzzle

“Experts have no doubt that people close to Bashar al-Assad’s entourage are linked to the ‘explosion’ of methamphetamine production and distribution, with a stopover in Europe as well. Syria Report editor-in-chief Jihad Yazigi. The production of the Captagon in Syria dates back to the 2000s. With the 2011 uprising that led to the civil war and the collapse of the economy, warlords and armed groups in search of new sources of funding turned to the manufacture of drugs.

As the Assad regime began to gain ground militarily, such illegal but lucrative operations reasonably passed into the hands of individuals from its circle. Today, members of the government themselves are among the protagonists of the Captagon trade, according to a recent New York Times survey. According to the same source, the production and distribution of the pills is largely controlled by the Fourth Division of the army, commanded by Bashar al-Assad Mahir’s brother.

A profitable business

It is estimated that the production of a pill costs only a few tens of cents. Its sale can bring up to 23 euros, depending on the quality and the market where it ends. For Assad and his people, who are almost cut off from the global economy by sanctions, it is a billion-dollar business that helps them stay in power.

According to recent research, a part of the pie is also claimed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Many production facilities are located on Syria’s border with the neighboring country, which is also an important part of the drug trafficking chain. Last year alone, Lebanese authorities identified more than 42 million pills, a record number from previous years.

“Their imagination has no limits”

Authorities are convinced that Germany is a hub for the route of the pills from Syria to their final destination, while last year there were other arrests of people believed to have coordinated the transport of Captagon cargo through the port of Constanta in Romania.

In 2018, customs officers in Hamburg found 175 kilos of methamphetamine pills hidden in furniture from Syria. “The perpetrators are trying hard to hide the pills. Their imagination knows no bounds,” said a Cabinet investigator who found Captagon tablets in oranges in Lebanon last December.

Jan Kulman, dpa

Edited by: Katerina Alexandridi

Source: Deutsche Welle