By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
DAMASCUS (Worthy News) – Islamic rebels have uncovered a multi-multi-billion dollar drug empire that kept former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime alive despite crippling international sanctions.
Several videos have come out of Syria, alleging that they were storages where massive amounts of Captagon were being stashed by Maher al-Assad, the dictator’s brother who led the Syrian army’s elite 4th Armoured Division and whose whereabouts remain unclear.
Storage facilities for Captagon, a party drug seen as “the poor man’s cocaine,” were found in military headquarters near Damascus, where ex-president Assad’s brother, Maher, was in power.
The brother reportedly led the Syrian army’s elite 4th Armoured Division, but his whereabouts remained unclear on Thursday.
Video footage reviewed by Worthy News showed entering what looks like a mansion used as a factory to manufacture the drug. It is “one of the largest storage facilities for Captagon,” said a voiceover in the video, while stacks of pills could be seen, as well as equipment to make the drug. Earlier this week, Saudi media reported the discovery of thousands of Captagon pills at an air base south of Damascus.
In other footage, people were reportedly seen destroying thousands of Captagon pills.
Captagon, also known as fenethylline, was initially developed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. However, the pill proved to be too addictive and was banned by the World Health Organization, experts said.
LOW STREET VALUE
With a relatively low street value and alleged effects such as “more energy,” “better stamina in bed,” and “less appetite,” Captagon became the Middle East’s most popular party drug.
The pill is especially popular in Saudi Arabia’s nightlife, to the frustration of the strict Islamic authorities, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The Syrian regime and its allies increasingly embraced the production and trade of Captagon to generate hard currency, estimated by some to be worth billions of dollars, the U.S. Treasury Department said last year. “Syria has become a global leader in the production of highly addictive Captagon, much of which is trafficked through Lebanon,” added Andrea M. Gacki, the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“With our allies, we will hold accountable those who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime with illicit drug revenue and other financial means that enable the regime’s continued repression of the Syrian people,” Gacki warned last year in a statement obtained by Worthy News.
At the time, the U.S. imposed sanctions on, among others, Assad’s cousin for his alleged involvement in the captagon trade. Those sanctions also targeted a close associate of Maher al-Assad, Assad’s brother, in whose military base Captagon was produced. Syrian Captagon has also been intercepted in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, from containers shipped from areas under Assad’s control, Dutch daily De Telegraaf (The Telegraph) recalled Thursday.
The annual trade of the party drug is estimated at billions of dollars. The Middle East Institute reported that nearly $6 billion worth of Syrian-made Captagon was seized abroad in 2021.
It underscored U.S. suspicions that the had become a crucial economic lifeline for Assad before he was eventually toppled over the weekend.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Senior European intelligence officials see little chance of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine this year, despite President Donald J. Trump’s claim that U.S.-brokered negotiations have brought a peace deal “reasonably close.”
British police raided two properties linked to former Prince Andrew on Thursday and detained the 66-year-old royal on suspicion of misconduct in public office, escalating scrutiny over his past association with the late U.S. financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab province were searching Thursday for an abducted minor girl, days after the provincial governor signed legislation raising the legal marriage age to 18 and criminalizing child marriage as a non-bailable offense.
The U.S. trade deficit edged slightly lower in 2025 but remained the third-largest on record, underscoring the scale of America’s global trade imbalance even amid sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
The United Kingdom will not allow the Pentagon to use British-controlled bases to launch potential military strikes against Iran, according to a report by The Times of London.
President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled what he called a historic new diplomatic framework — the “Board of Peace” — during an inaugural meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace, announcing billions in pledges for Gaza reconstruction and signaling that a major decision on Iran could come within days.
President Donald Trump is weighing an initial, limited military strike on Iran aimed at forcing Tehran to meet U.S. demands for a comprehensive nuclear agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported.