Syria is the Middle East’s main producer of Captagon, and Saudi Arabia is its main market.
Iraqi security forces have seized more than six million Captagon amphetamine pills, made multiple arrests and busted a drug trafficking ring.
“About 6.2 million pills” were discovered in a warehouse southwest of the capital Baghdad, the national security agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The agency said that three Iraqi nationals and four suspects from other Arab countries had been arrested in connection with the human trafficking ring, adding that the drugs were distributed “in areas of the world”. area of Baghdad and other provinces”.
Security forces also broke up a second drug ring when three men were arrested with six kilograms of hashish (13 pounds).
All 10 suspects “admitted to having links to international drug trafficking networks”, the agency said.
Drug trafficking offenses are punishable by the death penalty in Iraq.
Captagon is the trade name of a drug originally patented in Germany in the early 1960s containing the amphetamine-type stimulant called fenethylline used to treat attention deficit and narcolepsy among other things. other disease.
The drug was later banned and became an illegal substance almost exclusively produced and consumed in the Middle East and close to what other countries call “speed”.
Syria is the main Captagon producer of the Middle East and Saudi Arabia is the main consumption market.
![Saudi customs officer opens pomegranate import shop, as customs thwart attempt to smuggle more than 5 million Captagon pills by 2021 [File photo: Saudi Press Agency/AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/AP21116453808773.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C526)
In April 2021, Saudi customs authorities at the port of Jeddah foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 5.3 million Captagon pills, concealed in shipments of pomegranates from Lebanon.
Drug trafficking leads the way Saudi Arabia suspends imported fruit and vegetables from Lebanon, saying the shipments were used to smuggle drugs and accusing Beirut of inaction.
Then, last June, Saudi customs managed to smuggle more than 4.5 million Captagon tablets hidden in a shipment of oranges from an undisclosed country and another 14.4 million tablets. was discovered hidden in an iron shipment from Lebanon.
Drug trafficking and use in Iraq has skyrocketed in recent years. Security forces have ramped up operations and made near-daily announcements of arrests or arrests.
In the first three months of this year, more than three million Captagon pills were seized by Iraqi authorities.
