Drug trafficking is nothing new in the Middle East, but the
last decade of conflict has given way to a challenge of endemic proportions. In
2021 alone, 250 million narcotic pills were confiscated. That is 18 times the
amount seized just four years ago.
اضافة اعلان
Under Bashar Al Assad’s leadership, Syria has become the
focal point for drug manufacturing and export in the region. The Assad regime’s
links to the drug business are well-documented and barely concealed, which
explains why there has been little public effort by Damascus to crack down on
the booming drug trade. In addition to reaping the financial gains from the
drug business, Assad is using drugs as a strategic lever against his regional
opponents.
Since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, armed groups in
Syria have been involved in the drug industry. However, this illicit business
did not boom until after the regime’s territorial expansion, which peaked in
the summer of 2018. In addition to expelling its opponents from the majority of
Syria, Assad’s victory allowed him to consolidate his grip over most of the
border regions with Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, which have become hubs for drug
smuggling from Syria.
The territorial shift turned Syria into a narco-state, which
is now the global epicenter of Captagon production. Captagon is a stimulant
with addictive properties used recreationally across the Middle East. Its
ability to boost courage and energy explains why it is also known as “poor
man’s cocaine”. As a result of the not-so-secret support from the Assad regime,
Captagon is now more industrialized, adaptive, and technically sophisticated
than ever. Even the concealment of drug shipments coming from Syria to other
countries in the region have become profoundly more sophisticated.
The boom in the Captagon industry could have only happened
with the protection of a state, which is demonstrated by the involvement of key
regime figures and networks. Chief among them is the 4th Armored Division of
the Syrian Army, an elite unit commanded by Maher Al Assad, the president’s
younger brother and one of Syria’s most powerful men.
The New York Times recently exposed the role of the 4th
Division in the drug trade. The division is responsible for the borders with
Lebanon and Jordan, which are the primary export points for Captagon pills
manufactured in Syria. The 4th Division also maintains a network of checkpoints
across regime-controlled areas, which enable it to provide vital protection to Captagon
factories and facilitate the movement of drugs across the country.
Several other relatives of the Syrian president are also
heavily involved in this illicit business, including Samer Al Assad. Despite
being a distant paternal cousin of Bashar, Samer reportedly oversees the
majority of Captagon production around Latakia and exercises a high degree of
influence over trafficking throughout the Syrian coastal region. The Captagon
factory he owns in the village of Al Basa, south of Latakia, which is disguised
as a manufacturer of packaging materials, has become an open secret.
Many analysts believe that the profits generated by drug
manufacturing and export have become an important revenue stream for the
cash-strapped Syrian government. According to various estimates, the street
value of seized Syrian drugs, which is a fraction of the total sum, amounted to
about $3.4 billion in 2020. Placing relatives and other confidants in positions
of authority over the drug trade is a testament to just how valuable the drug
trade is for the regime.
There is a geopolitical dimension at play as well. Drugs
have become an important bargaining chip for the regime with other countries.
For example, the regime could be using drugs to pressure countries to restore
ties with Damascus in exchange for curtailing the flow of drugs or diverting
them to other countries.
In the past, Assad skillfully facilitated Jihadist attacks
in Iraq and Lebanon to advance his agenda. He used the same strategy again in
Syria during the ongoing conflict to force rival states to back off from
supporting his opponents. These well-documented incidents show that the Syrian
regime is no stranger to such tactics.
Jordan and Saudi Arabia are the two countries in the region
suffering the most from Syria’s drugs. However, other states in the region and
Europe are equally concerned. While some of those governments might be tempted
to cave in to Assad to protect their population, they should know that there
are no guarantees that the regime will honor its end of the deal. That is
evidenced by the failure of Jordan’s normalization efforts to curb drug
trafficking to its territories.
Moving forward, the regime will likely continue to pocket
the concessions made by the drug business without pushing back against Assad’s
relatives and associates who are managing the country’s emerging drug empire.
Instead of giving in, these countries should come together and find a more
reliable solution to countering Syria’s drugs, and that likely starts at home.
The writer is a Syrian columnist and a consulting associate
fellow of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program.
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