Syria Seizes Lebanon's Captagon. Who Knew? Everyone.
Syria's recent 'seizure' of 11 million Captagon pills from Lebanon, as reported by The New Arab, is presented as a significant bust. What the mainstream narrative often omits is the widely documented fact that Syria, under Assad, became the regional kingpin of Captagon production and smuggling, estimated to be a multi-billion dollar operation. Lebanese-Syrian borders, despite official 'seizures,'
are notoriously porous, and the trade has flourished for years, often implicating elements linked to the regime and its allies. (See: The New York Times, 'Syria Has a New, Illicit Export: The Amphetamine Captagon,' 2021). So, one might ask, is this a genuine interdiction or a strategically timed curtain call to project an image of state control, perhaps ahead of renewed regional engagement? It’s
hard not to notice how certain 'drug busts' miraculously appear in headlines precisely when international scrutiny of other, more devastating actions heats up. After all, when your government is literally built on a narco-state economy, seizing some pills from 'the other guy' is just good optics, isn't it?