The Lebanese Army announced this morning (Monday) that after repeated attempts to regain control over the border with Syria, military forces successfully took over a Captagon drug manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n
The plant is located near the town of Harf al-Samakah in the Hermel region. It is one of the central hubs of the drug industry that thrived during Syria\u2019s civil war and became a key tool in the hands of the Bashar al-Assad regime.<\/p>\n
The Poor Man\u2019s Cocaine<\/strong> In recent years, Captagon has become one of the Assad regime\u2019s largest sources of income. Estimates place the annual trade at approximately $5.7 billion. The network was run by the Syrian Army\u2019s 4th Division, headed by Maher al-Assad, the brother of ousted president Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n Also Used by Hamas<\/strong> Following the fall of the Assad regime and the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon\u2014due to Israeli strikes during the recent war\u2014the Lebanese military began reasserting control over the Syrian border. This process has led to a decline in Captagon production both in Syria and in Lebanon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After years of cross-border trafficking, the Lebanese Army has taken control of a Captagon production plant. The drug, known as “the poor man\u2019s cocaine,” was used by terrorist operatives in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":21917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,65],"tags":[2071,1477,1544,5176,2397,2030],"class_list":["post-21916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","category-world","tag-bashar-al-assad","tag-hamas","tag-hezbollah","tag-lebanon-syria-border","tag-middle-east","tag-syria"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nAccording to the army\u2019s statement, during the raid, large quantities of drug pills were seized, along with raw materials used in their production. The addictive drug has earned the nickname “the poor man\u2019s cocaine.”<\/p>\n
\nCaptagon pills were smuggled over the years into Jordan, Lebanon, and other Arab countries\u2014and even found their way into terrorist zones. Security forces discovered Captagon pills in the possession of Hamas operatives.<\/p>\n