Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab has revealed the arrest of three of the biggest “heads” in the Captagon trade, noting that details of their activities will be released to the media in the coming days. He stressed that these arrests come as part of intensified efforts by the ministry to dismantle major networks involved in manufacturing and trafficking narcotics.
Speaking in an interview with al-Jazeera on Saturday, 6 December, Khattab said that the most significant achievement accomplished today in Syria is the halt of drug production in areas that had witnessed extensive activity in recent years, despite the continued presence of quantities of narcotics hidden inside goods prepared for export, all of which, he said, were produced in previous periods.
He explained that investigations have focused on examining these export consignments, inside many of which large quantities of Captagon pills were found and fully seized, adding that most of the millions of pills that have been confiscated to date were within this category of shipments.
The minister pointed out that joint work has been activated among border crossings, airports, and land terminals to ensure thorough inspection of goods before export, emphasizing that the pace of work is rising noticeably.
Tracing the course of anti-narcotics efforts, Khattab said they go back to 2017, when a dedicated anti-drug file was created, followed by long-term work that included joint operations with the Turkish side.
He added that upon arriving in Damascus, the authorities moved quickly to activate the Anti-Narcotics Department, which had previously existed within the Interior Ministry’s structure but with almost no effective powers, due to the involvement of influential figures in power, chief among them the Fourth Division, in sponsoring smuggling and manufacturing operations.
The minister said the ministry began, from the first days following “liberation”, to reactivate the department, provide it with new staff, and organize two training courses to recruit new personnel, in light of the vast spread of drug manufacturing and trafficking in many Syrian provinces.
Efforts, he added, focused on the countryside of Damascus (Rif Dimashq province) and Homs, both close to the Lebanese border, where many active drug labs were discovered.
According to Khattab, more than 14 drug production facilities have been dismantled so far, while the number of seized Captagon pills has reached about 365 million, a massive quantity that has caused serious harm to neighboring countries, foremost among them Saudi Arabia, which was a primary target for the networks involved in production and smuggling.
Seizures and dismantling of Captagon trafficking networks
On 4 December, the Anti-Narcotics Department dismantled a network specializing in promoting and smuggling narcotic substances during a carefully planned security operation in Rif Dimashq province, arresting two of its members, identified as “M.M.” and “A.A.”, in possession of more than 160,000 Captagon pills, after close on-the-ground surveillance and continuous monitoring of their movements.
According to what the ministry published on its official channels, part of the pills had been hidden inside car batteries in an attempt to smuggle them outside the country. The drugs were confiscated in full, and the necessary legal procedures were initiated against the detainees.
The Anti-Narcotics Branch in Aleppo province also foiled the activities of a network engaged in drug trafficking and promotion, after a meticulous surveillance operation that led to the arrest of the network’s leader, identified as “H.E.”, and four of his associates.
A source in the Aleppo Police Command told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on 3 December that Anti-Narcotics officers seized around 31,000 Captagon pills, about 500 grams of “crystal” (H Buzz), and quantities of the same substance in liquid form, all of which were confiscated in preparation for their destruction under the supervision of the competent authorities.
A day earlier, the Anti-Narcotics Branch in Damascus had arrested a network of ten people, including the network leader “A.Kh.”, involved in promoting and selling narcotic substances, and seized large quantities of drugs and weapons in their possession.
The seized items included about 500,000 Captagon pills, 1,000 grams of crystal, 12 kilograms of hashish, and 3,000 grams of heroin.
At the beginning of the same month, the Anti-Narcotics Branch in Rif Dimashq, in cooperation with the Internal Security Directorate in the al-Zabadani area (northwest of Damascus, near the Lebanese border), seized 324 slabs of hashish and nearly 200,000 Captagon pills, following precise intelligence indicating suspicious activity that posed a threat to public security in the area.