London, July 11 (SANA)The Economisthas affirmed thatSyria, under the leadership of President Ahmad al-Sharaa, is pressing ahead with a determined campaign to halt the flow ofCaptagonacross its borders and dismantle the drug empire left behind by the ousted regime—described as another dark legacy added to its crimes against the Syrian people.

In a new report, the British magazine highlighted a series of anti-Captagon operations carried out by the Syrian authorities, noting that the ongoing campaign extends beyond pursuing traffickers to dismantling production networks and cutting off smuggling routes that flourished under the defunct regime.

Relentless Campaign Against Captagon

According to the report, during the first year following Syria’s liberation, authorities seized more than 500 million Captagon pills, destroyed 16 industrial laboratories used for their production, and disrupted the trade by forcing it to fragment from centralized manufacturing hubs into scattered production sites.

The campaign has continued unabated, with Syrian authorities confiscating both old stockpiles of narcotic pills and supplies originating from newly established factories, particularly in Suwayda Province.

In May 2026, theMinistry of Interiorannounced that it had foiled an attempt to smuggle 25 million Captagon pills into Jordan after detecting traffickers using remotely controlled balloons equipped with tracking systems in an effort to evade border surveillance.

The Economist also pointed to Hezbollah’s involvement in the Captagon trade and smuggling operations.

Charles Lister, an analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, stated that approximately one-quarter of the Captagon seized by Syrian authorities over the past six months had originated from Lebanon.

The report noted that Syria’s 375-kilometer border with Lebanon and its nearly 600-kilometer border with Iraq have posed major security challenges since liberation, particularly given the expansion of illicit networks under the deposed regime, which exploited border regions for various smuggling activities aimed at undermining the security of neighboring countries.

Since liberation, the Syrian state has begun restructuring its border security system by deploying specialized military units to monitor border areas, conduct reconnaissance and surveillance operations, close numerous illegal crossing routes, and strengthen security coordination to curb smuggling activities.

The magazine added that Syria’s sustained crackdown on the Captagon trade has caused significant disruptions in the illicit market following the collapse of the ousted regime, contributing to rising prices of the drug in some areas.

It also warned that tighter restrictions on Captagon trafficking could prompt some users to turn to alternative synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine.

Since the first day of liberation on December 8, 2024, the Syrian government has made combating narcotics a central pillar of its new state policy, aiming to strengthen stability and build effective international partnerships.

In a significant transformation reflecting the state’s commitment, the relevant authorities have succeeded in dismantling the drug trafficking infrastructure established by the ousted regime, shifting Syria from being the world’s largest exporter of Captagon to a country actively working to eradicate the drug trade.