Investigators found a strange, tiny pill embedded in the pocket of a Hamas terrorist who attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
They were later identified as the drug Captagon, a powerful synthetic stimulant.
Captagon gained international notoriety in 2015 when it was found to be used by ISIS fighters to stave off fear and fatigue before carrying out terrorist operations.
Now, because it is cheap, and easy to manufacture and smuggle, Captagon and its clones are likely to remain a favorite tool of extremist militant groups to increase the violent tendencies of their soldiers.
Some reports have even labeled Captagon a “jihad drug,” according to Reuters, and former Syrian fighters have previously claimed it made them “fearless” and gave them “great courage and power” to fight.
Sometimes known simply by the name phenethylline, it was originally developed in 1961 as a milder alternative to amphetamines and methamphetamines and was later used to treat narcolepsy, fatigue and a behavioral disorder called minimal brain dysfunction, according to Drugs.com.
The drug – reportedly a mixture of phenethylline, caffeine and other fillers – has primary effects that include feelings of euphoria, reducing the need for sleep, suppressing appetite and providing long-lasting energy.
However, in the 1980s, the US government declared Captagon a controlled substance with no accepted medical use, according to Drugs.com, so drugmakers stopped producing the drug — legally, that is.
Captagon, or phenethylline, is a favorite stimulant among wealthy young drug users in the Middle East. AFP via Getty Images
Illegal drug manufacturers took the decision, and Captagon – also known as “poor man’s cocaine” – was secretly produced in southern European countries such as Bulgaria and trafficked through Turkey to the Arabian Peninsula, according to the US Department of Justice.
Captagon — or one of its imitations, which can contain a variety of stimulants, fillers and impurities — is now one of the most popular recreational drugs among young, wealthy people in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
A crackdown on the production of phenethylline by the Turkish and Bulgarian authorities resulted in a sharp decline in the trade of Captagon from the Balkans, according to Al Jazeera.
But Syria, which is facing an economic crisis after the civil war started in 2011, has emerged as the center of Captagon production.
Experts now claim that most of the global production of Captagon currently takes place in Syria, with recreational users in the wealthy Gulf state as the main destination.
Some estimates suggest that Captagon exports from Syria reached a minimum of $3.5 billion in 2020 — five times higher than the combined value of Syria’s legal exports, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Captagon is cheap to manufacture and easy to smuggle, making it a lucrative commodity in some regions.AFP via Getty Images A Saudi Arabian customs official opens an imported pomegranate as customs foil an attempt to smuggle more than 5 million amphetamine pills known as Captagon.AP
The trade in Captagon and other stimulants is now a major industry in places like Saudi Arabia, where in August 2022, authorities found 46 million amphetamine pills smuggled in a shipment of flour.
In February, a man was detained at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates after he was caught smuggling 4.5 million Captagon tablets in cans of green beans, Al Jazeera reported.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
