Videos show Assad-Regime's role in drug trafficking
Videos show Assad-Regime's role in drug trafficking
On Wednesday, a video appeared on social media that supposedly appeared a warehouse in Syria Shows that is filled with capagon, an illegal intoxicant. The country has led this drug problem to a political and social chaos under the rule of the former President Bashar al-Assad
proof of drug trafficking?
The large warehouse is said to be in the main center of a military division near Damascus, which is commanded by Assad's brother Maher. CNN cannot currently verify the location independently. In the video, a voice expresses that it is "one of the largest systems for the production of captagon tablets". Countable pills and drug manufacturing devices can be seen on the floor.
international reactions
If this information is confirmed, this would support the claims of the United States and other nations that the Assad regime was actively involved in the export of the drug product. Captagon has become a serious social problem in the neighboring Arab countries, which caused some of these countries to have talks with the former Syrian regime to curb drug trafficking.
The dangers of Captagon
Captagon is a highly addictive drug that contains mostly amphetamine and is often described as "drugs for arms". Studies in recent years appreciate the annual trade value of the drug at several billion dollars. It is believed that during the devastating American sanctions for the Assad regime it has become an economic lifelong nerve.
new discoveries in Syria
US sanctions and international efforts
Last year, the US Ministry of Finance imposed sanctions against several Syrians who are closely linked to the Assad regime and were allegedly involved in the capagon trade. According to the ministry, the Syrian regime and its allies have increasingly used production and trading with capagon to generate hard currencies, which are estimated by some to billions of dollars.global drug policy
The bid administration formulated a strategy to combat captagon trading in 2023 and found that the majority of the production of local Syrian groups that are connected to the Assad regime and the HISBOLLAH came. "Large quantities of these capagon tablets are shipped by Syrian ports such as Latakia or smuggled across the Jordan and Iraqi borders," it said.
use as a leverage
A report by the Carnegie Foundation from this year states that the Assad regime and its allies have used the captagon trade "as a means of exercising pressure on the Gulf States, especially Saudi Arabia, to reintegrate Syria back into the Arab world". The production of the drug is closely linked to the interests of powerful interest groups in Syria, including high -ranking members of the leadership.
worldwide drug control
The UN office for drug and crime control reported that "the main output area for capagon deliveries is still in Syria and Lebanon, with goals in the golf states, which are reached either directly via country or lake or indirectly by deliveries from other regions". According to the UNODC, the largest seizures of the drug-about two thirds of the total amount-took place in Saudi Arabia.
estimates for the increase in drug trafficking
Several studies estimate that trading with captagon has increased significantly in the past ten years. The Middle East Institute reported that in 2021 alone almost $ 6 billion on in Syria produced capagon were confiscated abroad. In April 2022 alone, 25 million capagon tablets were intercepted in neighboring countries, which corresponded to a value of around $ 500 million
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