Assad’s Narco-Trade Lives on in Lebanon

The Lebanese Army busted a major narcotics factory. On July 13, Lebanese forces raided a facility in Baalbek used to produce the synthetic, amphetamine-like drug captagon. The army dismantled approximately 10 tons of machinery, seized an unspecified quantity of captagon pills, crystal meth, and other drugs, and used a bulldozer to destroy a 300-meter-long tunnel that led into the factory. The facility “turned out to be one of the largest factories seized to date,” according to the Lebanese Army.

Under the Bashar al-Assad regime, Syria became a major hub for the production and trafficking of captagon. The captagon trade eventually developed into a $10 billion industry, surpassing the total value of Syria’s legal exports combined. The presence of a major captagon factory in Baalbek is a reminder that the regional narco-trade is not limited to Syria. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed militias partnered with Damascus in its illicit enterprise. These groups may continue facilitating and benefiting from the captagon trade in the post-Assad era.

Captagon Provided Assad’s Regime an Economic Lifeline

Captagon grew into a multi-billion-dollar business that provided much-needed revenue for the Assad regime, which faced crippling Western sanctions. The United States, United Kingdom, and European Union previously sanctioned several members of Bashar al-Assad’s extended family for their role in narco-trafficking operations, including associates of Assad’s brother and the head of the former Syrian Army’s Fourth Division, Maher al-Assad.

Following Bashar al-Assad’s fall, evidence surfaced further indicating his regime’s involvement in the captagon trade. For example, footage circulated on December 11 showing a captagon factory that was allegedly linked to Maher al-Assad. A second video appeared to show captagon pills and production equipment in a warehouse at the Syrian Army’s Fourth Division headquarters. The Turkish Anadolu Agency released yet another video purportedly showing a captagon factory inside Maher al-Assad’s villa west of Damascus.

Syria’s New Leaders Pledged To End the Assad-Era Narco-Trade

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa promised to end the captagon era when he overthrew the Assad regime, saying that, “Syria is being purified.” However, captagon smuggling attempts continue through Syria, reaching Jordan and a number of Gulf countries.

Sharaa’s forces may have cracked down on the factories tied to the Assad regime’s Fourth Division, but they have disregarded captagon kingpins in the Daraa governorate bordering Jordan. One of those is Imad Abu Zureiq, whom Sharaa met in December. Washington sanctioned Abu Zureiq in 2023 for using his militia to “sell contraband, operate protection rackets, and smuggle drugs into Jordan.”

Drug smugglers in the Druze-majority Suwayda governorate have also taken advantage of the lack of state control in the region. According to an unnamed local journalist, members of the Mazhar family in Suwayda, once linked to the Assad regime, “run a Captagon factory seven kilometers from their neighborhood and are actively involved in trafficking.” Because of the lack of state control, Syrian authorities have made no arrests and have not seized any production factories linked to the family.

Washington Must Continue To Hold Captagon Kingpins Accountable

Despite the new Syrian government’s pledge to crack down on the captagon trade, the drug is still coursing through the region. Jordanian and Saudi authorities have thwarted smuggling attempts on numerous occasions, including intercepting millions of pills at Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia on June 5.

On June 30, President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting sanctions on Syria, although sanctions on “Bashar al-Assad and his associates, human rights abusers, Captagon traffickers” and others remain in place. As the Trump administration continues to bring Syria back into the international fold, it must also continue to hold captagon titans and traffickers accountable by rolling out new sanctions and wielding law enforcement tools where applicable. Washington should also monitor the role that Hezbollah and other Shiite militias play in the captagon trade, as well as the possible rise of new production hubs in places like Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels are looking for ways to raise funds.

Natalie Ecanow is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst. For more analysis from the authors, please subscribe HERE. Follow Natalie and Ahmad on X @NatalieEcanow and @AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.