Reuters reports: Drug laboratory discovered

Following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime, it has been alleged that armed opposition groups uncovered a large Captagon laboratory in western Damascus. Thousands of pills hidden in the laboratory have been recorded as one of the largest Captagon facilities discovered to date.

ABANDONED FACILITY

According to the report released by Reuters, opposition forces consisting of jihadist groups found thousands of pills in an abandoned facility during their raid on the city of Douma, west of Damascus.

According to the report, it was determined that the pills, hidden in the dark corridors of warehouses, were concealed inside products such as furniture, fruit, decorative pebbles, and voltage regulators.

It is alleged that many of the boxes were stamped with the double-crescent logo identifying Captagon pills or the word "Lexus".

JIHADIST SHOWS REUTERS REPORTER

A jihadist who allowed Reuters reporters into the facility opened one of the devices to show the hidden pills and said, "These are ready for export."

It is known that Western governments have linked the Captagon trade, which has reached an annual trade volume of 10 billion dollars in the Middle East, to the Assad regime. Allegations that Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad, and the Fourth Division under his command managed the production and smuggling of Captagon have been on the agenda.

ASSAD FAMILY DENIES DRUG TRADE

The Assad family, who have taken refuge in Russia, denied all accusations, stating that they have no connection to the drug trade.

2.4 BILLION DOLLAR SUSPICION

Caroline Rose, Director of the Captagon Trade Project at the New York-based New Lines Institute, claims that the Syrian regime earned approximately 2.4 billion dollars annually from the Captagon trade. According to Rose, the facility found is one of the largest Captagon laboratories uncovered so far.

WHAT IS CAPTAGON?

Captagon was the name of a stimulant first developed in Germany in the 1960s to treat conditions such as attention deficit disorders and narcolepsy. However, its illegal version, later called the "poor man's cocaine," became widespread in Eastern Europe and Arab countries. With the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, its production and trade gained momentum. Known as the courage pill, Captagon is also used by members of terrorist organizations.

New Evidence Emerges Following the Assad Regime

With Bashar al-Assad taking refuge in Russia, Western journalists, in particular, have taken action to find evidence documenting the regime's role in the Captagon trade.

The discovered laboratory reveals that the drug empire has a much deeper and more complex structure.