these are what captagon pills look like like any other tablet, in fact but these are illegal, highly addictive, amphetamine type stimulants that are being mass produced in syria. this drug is right now being found in europe, africa and asia. and now bbc news arabic working with journalism organisation occrp has uncovered links between this multi billion dollar drugs trade and leading members of syrian president bashar al assad s family and elite members of the armed forces. emir nadir has this exclusive report. the arab world is fighting a war. it s the arab world is fighting a war. it s enemy is a drug called captagon. captagon is a type of amphetamine that s illegal and highly addictive.
gaining hard evidence from inside syria is difficult but one story reported in local media caught our eye. on the 11th of september 2022, a pick up truck crashed on its way to the port city of tartus. the vehicle contained two tonnes of hashish and 3 million captagon pills. the two men in the truck were brothers. one was killed, the other arrested on drug trafficking charges. the vehicle itself didn t have numberplates, a sign it belongs to the military. the brothers came from the home of the al assad family. intrigued, we managed to find their social media profiles and tracked down to people who knew the brothers. i tracked down to people who knew the brothers. ~
now it s being found in europe, africa and asia. but where is all the captagon coming from? working with journalism organisation oc crp, bbc news arabic uncovered direct links between this multi billion dollar drug trade and leading members of syrian president bashar al assad s family and armed forces. with evidence gathered from deep inside syria, we can revealjust how much its economy is hooked on this profitable little pill. since 2011, syria has been torn apart by a bitter civil war. allegations of war crimes committed by the syrian armed forces and their russian backers have led to western sanctions against prominent syrians. as a result, the country s economy is close to collapse. desperate for
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