Syria seizes millions of captagon pills: ministry

Syrian forces have recently uncovered and destroyed vast quantities of Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant that has significantly impacted the region.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

12 April, 2025

Security forces in black uniforms dismantle metal frames used to conceal millions of captagon pills in Latakia, Syria, on April 12, 2025. The Syrian Interior Ministry announced that approximately 4 million captagon pills were seized during a raid on a smuggling depot near the coastal port.

Security forces in black uniforms dismantle metal frames used to conceal millions of captagon pills in Latakia, Syria, on April 12, 2025. [Getty]

Syrian authorities on Saturday announced the seizure of around four million pills of the illegal drug captagon that had been readied for export through the port of Latakia.

The interior ministry said the pills had been "professionally hidden inside 5,000 metal bars" and were seized from warehouses at the port.

"The pills were seized and the necessary legal procedures have begun," the ministry's anti-narcotics department posted on Telegram.

Latakia is in the coastal heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority.

Under his rule, captagon became Syria's largest export during the civil war that began in 2011.

Following Assad's ouster last December, the new authorities discovered millions of captagon pills in warehouses and on military bases.