Syria's bloody civil war that's killed more than 100,000 people and displaced as many as 2 million people is reportedly being fueled — and financed — in part by a highly addictive amphetamine that's easy to make and lucrative to sell.
Investigations by both
Reuters and
Time magazine report a growing trade in Syrian-made Captagon, a popular amphetamine in the Middle East, but illegal elsewhere — it's a Schedule I drug in the United States,
The Washington Post reports — generated millions of dollars inside the country last year, some of which is suspected to be funding weapons — and given to fighters in the warring factions inside the country.
"We would beat them, and they wouldn't feel the pain," a drug control officer in the city of Homs tells Reuters of the effects of Captagon on protesters and fighters held for questioning.
"Many of them would laugh while we were dealing them heavy blows. We would leave the prisoners for about 48 hours without questioning them while the effects of Captagon wore off, and then interrogation would become easier."
According to Reuters, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reports Syria has long been a transit point for drugs coming from Europe, Turkey and Lebanon and destined for the Gulf states.
But the civil war raging there now — causing a collapse of the country's infrastructure and the growth of armed groups — armed groups have now turned it into a major producer.
Captagon, the trademark name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline, was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression, but was banned in most countries by the 1980s as too addictive,
The Guardian reports.
It's cheap and simple to produce — and sells at a big mark-up, for up to $20 a tablet, the Guardian reports.
Fighters from most of the warring parties in the conflict — with the exception of al-Qaida-linked groups, which mostly hold to a strict interpretation of Islamic law — are now said to be making extensive use of Captagon, often on night missions or during particularly grueling battles.
The Guardian reports the drug's use is also increasing among Syria's civilian population.
"Syria is a tremendous problem in that it's a collapsed security sector, because of its porous borders, because of the presence of so many criminal elements and organized networks," the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime regional representative, Masood Karimipour, tells
Voice of America.
"There's a great deal of trafficking being done of all sorts of illicit goods — guns, drugs, money, people. But what is being manufactured there and who is doing the manufacturing, that's not something we have visibility into from a distance."
One ex-Syrian fighter told BCC the drug is perfect for the battlefield because it makes the soldiers feel powerful, The Washington Post reports.
"So the brigade leader came and told us, 'this pill gives you energy, try it,' " he said. "So we took it the first time. We felt physically fit. And if there were 10 people in front of you, you could catch them and kill them. You're awake all the time. You don't have any problems, you don't even think about sleeping, you don't think to leave the checkpoint.
"It gives you great courage and power. If the leader told you to go break into a military barracks, I will break in with a brave heart and without any feeling of fear at all — you're not even tired."
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