What Is Captagon, and Why Is It Flooding the Middle East?

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Captagon, an amphetamine-like stimulant, has been flooding the Gulf countries and the rest of the Middle East, fueling the region’s party scene while also turning Syria into a narco-state. While drugs, like hash, have been used in the Middle East for centuries, Captagon is a new phenomenon and is catching on amongst both the youth and military fighters. 

According to the 2024 World Drugs Report, practically all countries in the Middle East are affected by Captagon trafficking, and the largest seizures over the past five years have been reported by Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Lebanon. It is sometimes called the “Jihad drug” because of its use amongst extremist fighters. 

Captagon was originally the brand name of a psychoactive medicine produced in the 1960s by a German pharmaceutical company. Capsules of Captagon contained fenethylline, a synthetic drug of the phenethylamine family to which amphetamine also belongs. It was mainly prescribed as a treatment for attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy, and as a central nervous system stimulant. In 1986, fenethylline was banned internationally and classified as a Schedule II substance under the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971. But production continued in the 1990s and 2000s in Bulgaria, with counterfeit Captagon tablets trafficked to the Middle East through Balkan and Turkish criminal networks. 

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According to Al Jazeera, Captagon has recently emerged as a pivotal bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations, as Syria attempts to be reinstated into the Arab League. Amidst a civil war that erupted in 2011, the production and smuggling of Captagon has provided a significant economic lifeline for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its allies. A report by Arab Center Washington D.C. estimates that there are 160 groups operating in southern Syria using drones and customized vehicles to smuggle the substance. Reports also suggest al-Assad’s collaboration with groups like Hezbollah for technical and logistical support in the drug trade, and a U.K. government statement said Syria’s Captagon trafficking is “worth three times the combined trade of the Mexican cartels.” Observers say the trade also has funded Tehran’s military activities in the region. 

At a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in May, Syria agreed to make efforts to curb the illicit trade of Captagon, and collaborate with Jordan and Iraq to identify sources of drug production and smuggling. However, Al Jazeera reports that tensions escalated when a prominent Syrian drug smuggler and his family were killed in an air raid attributed to Jordan. 

Countries like the UK and the US have also imposed sanctions on Syrian individuals connected to Captagon trafficking. US officials introduced The Captagon Act in December 2022, which calls the Captagon trade a “transnational security threat.” In April 2024, President Biden also signed The Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act as part of a package providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The Act mandates new sanctions against individuals and networks affiliated with Bashar al-Assad’s Captagon trafficking, signaling the US’ heightened concerns that Captagon may reach American shores. 

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