Europe is a key “crossroads” for Captagona cheap illegal drug popular in the middle east, which allegedly directly benefits the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
According to a joint report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the German police (BKA), traffickers are increasingly using European countries to transport Captagon pills traveling from the Middle East to the Arabian Peninsula.
Smuggling of the pills, also known as jihadi drugs – which sell on the black market for around $3 a pill – through Europe has likely “intended to avoid controls in destination markets, which are unlikely to suspect that Captagon tablets are being sent from the EU”the research says.
The Captagon pill is a highly addictive amphetamine-type narcotic that is largely produced and consumed in the Middle East, particularly Syria and Lebanon. Its illegal trade has generated a commercial value estimated at $57 billion.
The recent major seizure
A few days ago the authorities in Abu Dhabi prevented traffickers from smuggling a huge amount of Captagon into the country. It is estimated that almost 14 tons were seized, with the value of the cargo amounting to one billion dollars, and it once again brought to the surface the scourge of this particular drug in the societies of the Middle Eastern countries, but also the… nets spread by its trafficking network.
The connection with Al-Assad
The production of the drug has been widely linked to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and specifically to many officials, but also members of the Syrian leader’s family. According to the report, German authorities have confirmed that the Captagon trade takes place “under the auspices” of the Assad regime, which directly benefits from the shipments.
The drug is a “financial lifeline” for Syria’s war operations, according to the UK government, which said earlier this year that Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher “commands the Syrian army unit that facilitates the distribution and production of the drug”.
This year, the E.E. allied with the US and UK to sanction Syrians linked to the Captagon trade, including members of the Assad family, Syrian army officials and regime-linked militia leaders.
The transfer of Captagon to Europe
According to the EMCDDA report, which compiled data from Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, authorities have seized multiple large shipments of Captagon tablets in Europe since 2018, most of them in transit to the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
Europe is not a major consumer market for Captagon, the report said, with most of the market being in some countries in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, notably Saudi Arabia.
The report calls for a coordinated EU response. to address the main issues.
Source: News Beast
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