Ba'athist Syrian Captagon industry

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The Ba'athist Syrian Captagon industry was the state-sponsored drug manufacturing and trafficking apparatus of Ba'athist Syria, which was the major responsible for the global production of the Captagon drug. Ba'athist Syria exported the drug to various countries, mainly in the Middle East region, including Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Gulf states, and Egypt. The drug export was one of the main sources of income for the government of Bashar al-Assad, helping it to prop up the economy during the Syrian civil war. In 2023, the UK ministry of foreign affairs estimated that Syria was responsible for about 80% of the global production of Captagon, which, according to then-secretary for the Middle East Tariq Ahmad, was exported from the port of Latakia with the assistance of the Syrian government under the command of Maher al-Assad. The same report issued by the UK government also suggested that "independent experts estimate [the Captagon trade market] could be worth up to $57 billion", and added...

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