The drug’s cross-border trade had been a major reason for worsening ties between regional countries [Getty/archive]
The Lebanese army said on Sunday it had raided a Captagon manufacturing plant along the country’s border with Syria, as part of continued measures to crack down on drug networks in the region.
Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant popular among militants, sometimes dubbed “the jihadists’ drug”.
In a statement, the army said it raided the plant in the Harf al-Samaqa area of the Hermel district in northeast Lebanon, adding that it dismantled the facility and seized a “large quantity of pills” along with other equipment.
“The seized items were handed over to the relevant authorities, and an investigation is underway,” it added, sharing images on X showing the factory it seized.
Under the rule of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Captagon became Syria’s largest export during the civil war that began in 2011, funnelling billions to fund his regime, allies and enemies alike. His brother, Maher, was especially said to be involved in the trade.
Islamist-led rebels who toppled Assad in December uncovered a vast empire that had been built by the Assad dynasty, dismantling factories and burning huge quantities of the pills.
Hezbollah in Lebanon, which fought alongside Assad’s forces, has long denied involvement in the production or trade of Captagon, despite the factories being built in its strongholds in the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel regions, especially in border areas the group had long controlled.
The illegal trade was once a main reason behind Lebanon’s deteriorating relationship with the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest consumer market.
Lebanon has since raided dozens of factories and foiled many smuggling attempts, cooperating with other transit countries, including Iraq and Jordan to combat trafficking.
