by Besim Likmeta

On July 1st 2020, the Guardia di Finanza seized more than 84 million Captagon tablets weighing 14 tons and with an estimated market value of 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in Salerno, arriving from the Syrian port of Latakia. The drug was hidden in three containers containing cylinders of paper for industrial use and metal wheels. The cargo was to be shipped to a Swiss company based in Lugano and with connections in the Italian city of Salerno. Investigators believe that the shipment was to be received by the Neapolitan mafia, known as the Camorra. 

Two weeks earlier, the Guardia di Finanza had intercepted a container concealing 2800 kg of hashish and 190 kg of captagon pills (about 1 million), shipped by the same Syrian company to the same Swiss company. According to information from La Repubblica, the first shipment was destined for Libya marked to travel by way of the Swiss company. 

Captagon is the brand name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline. It was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression, but was banned in most countries by the 1980s because it created too much addiction. It remains very popular in the Middle East. The drug is cheap and simple to produce, using ingredients that are easy and often legal to obtain. It sells for about 15 euros a tablet. 

At first the authorities thought that the drug shipment was manufactured by the “Islamic State” (IS). However, the German newspaper “Der Spiegel” stated in a report that the seized drugs belonged to the Syrian regime, noting  that Samer Kamal al-Assad, the uncle of the head of the regime, runs a factory in al-Bassa village, south of Latakia, to produce narcotic drugs. As the war dragged on, drug trade escalated in Syria with the country’s economic deterioration, the need for liquidity for the government, between the Iranian and Russian pressures to pay in exchange for protection, as well as fighters’ salaries and expenses.

Although the investigation is ongoing, the Italian authorities have declared that the Lebanese group of Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian regime, is behind the matter as well. They claim that Hezbollah uses profits from drug trade to fund their terroristic efforts. The leader of Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah has denied accusations it is involved in amphetamine production, saying that drug trafficking is strictly forbidden in Islam.   

Italian authorities believe that the drugs could have ended up in the European markets through the Swiss company mentioned above, if the shipment hadn’t been stopped at the port of Salerno. The investigators believe that the lockdown imposed by the Covid-19 epidemics has hindered the production of synthetic drugs across Europe, forcing traffickers to organise shipments from Syria where production doesn’t seem to have slowed down. 

While much of the Captagon produced in Syria is destined for overseas markets, Syrians themselves suffer some of the worst damage from the trade. The worst-quality Captagon tablets are sold within Syria for as cheap as $1 per pill, according to sources. Producers often mix substances to dilute the compounds, and some pills contain toxic levels of zinc and nickel. 

Captagon is known to inhibit tiredness, hunger, and fear. But its use is now common among all demographics in Syria, not just fighters. The most common side effects include extreme depression, insomnia, malnutrition, and heart and blood toxicity. Those who are addicted find little support from a health care system destroyed by years of war.

Cooperation at an international level would reduce significantly the volume of captagon trade. Countries could hold captagon production and export accountable through sanctions or other measures, making it harder for the business to be so lucrative. Moreover, a holistic countermeasure approach requires increasing public awareness of the harsh effects that Captagon trade has particularly on Syrian civilians.

References: 

[1] Bongarrà, F 2020, “Italian police: Record-breaking drugs bust could have Hezbollah link”, Arab News, 26 December

[2] Sommerville, Q 2021, “Hezbollah denies any role in production of amphetamines”, BBC, 9 January

[3] Amante, A 2020, “Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria”, Reuters, 1 July

[4] Matthews, A et al., 2020, “Was ‘IS’ trying to sell €1 billion worth of drugs in Europe?”, DW, 7 July

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[11] Walker, R 2020, “Hezbollah’s Dirty Money and Illicit Activities in Canada”, Honest Reporting Canada, 10 September

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[14] IGTDS, (2020, July 8), Retrieved from Assad regime ramping up facilities for drug smuggling – IGTDS

[15] BBC, (2020, July 1), Retrieved from Captagon: Italy seizes €1bn of amphetamines ‘made to fund IS’ – BBC News

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[17] De Pascale, A 2020, “Captagon. Cosa c’è dietro il maxi sequestro a Salerno”, Fuoriluogo, 3 July 

[18] laRegione, (2020, July 1), Retrieved from Lugano, ditta implicata nello sbarco di 14 tonnellate di droga | laRegione

[19] La Luce, (2020, July 6), Retrieved from Captagon: la “droga dell’ISIS” che in realtà è prodotta dagli Assad, il governo italiano però preferisce non dirlo – La Luce

[20] Salerno Today, (2020, July 10), Retrieved from “La droga al porto di Salerno dell’Isis? Un’idea bizzarra”. L’intervista all’inviato Daniele Raineri (salernotoday.it)

[21] Scorziello, F 2020, “Il più grande sequestro di anfetamine a livello mondiale”, 1 July

[22] RSI, (2020, July 1), Retrieved from Anfetamine, pista svizzera – RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera

[23] La Notizia Giornale, (2020, July 1), Retrieved from Maxi sequestro di droga nel porto di Salerno. La Finanza intercetta 3 container con 14 tonnellate di amfetamine prodotte in Siria dall’Isis | LA NOTIZIA (lanotiziagiornale.it)

[24] Del Porto, D et al. 2020, “Salerno, sequestrati 84 milioni di pasticche di droga dell’Isis: le stesse usate dai terroristi del Bataclan”, la Repubblica, 1 July

[25] Avvenire, (2020, July 1), Retrieved from Sequestrate a Salerno 14 tonnellate di droga del Daesh (avvenire.it)

© 2021 Besim Likmeta. All rights reserved.