New details about the notorious Captagon drug trade are revealed with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria

Damascus – In a remote corner outside Damascus, Syria, a now-abandoned potato chip factory reveals one of many secrets that are both dark and open. The ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad.

A CBS News team was able to access the site and found a warehouse full of industrial-scale hydrochloric acid and acetic acid, the raw chemicals needed to make… Captagonone of the most famous street drugs in the Middle East and beyond.

Ahmed Abu Yaqin with Syria Hayat Tahrir al-Shamor HTS, one The main groups in charge of the country After the lion fled December 8. Yakin says this huge underground cache of Captagon was found just days after the rebel group took control. The pills are stuffed into big piles of home voltage regulator kits ready to ship.

Often referred to as “the poor man’s cocaine,” Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant.

“We feel sorry for the young people who are addicted to it,” Yakin said. “The Assad regime was destroying an entire generation and they didn’t care much. They only cared about making money.”

This money is amazing. Analysts estimate that the Assad regime earned $5 billion annually from this trade, dwarfing the Syrian official budget and making it a vital lifeline for the bankrupt state. The drug costs only a few cents to make, but can be sold for up to $20 per tablet. The cargo seen at the abandoned factory is likely worth tens of millions of dollars.

For years, Syria’s neighboring countries have accused Assad of being the world’s main supplier of illicit drugs. In March 2023, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on several Syrians for their alleged involvement in “dangerous amphetamine,” including two of Assad’s cousins.

“Syria has become a world leader in the production of the addictive substance Captagon, much of which is smuggled through Lebanon.” He said Andrea Gacki at the time, who was then Director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. He added: “With our allies, we will hold accountable those who support Bashar al-Assad’s regime with illicit drug revenues and other financial means that enable the regime to continue its oppression of the Syrian people.”

Now, the highly lucrative drug trade appears to have been crushed, along with his brutal and corrupt regime. Yakin believes that Captagon has no place in Syria’s future.

“We will destroy everything,” Yakin said. He added: “We will eliminate everything related to drugs, and everything related to the criminal Assad regime.”

Good privilege

Imtiaz Tayyab is a CBS News correspondent based in London who reports for all platforms, including CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings, CBS Sunday Morning and CBS News 24/7. He has extensive experience reporting on major global flashpoints, including the Middle East and the war on terrorism.