Damascus, Sept. 16 (SANA) Syria seized 697 million Captagon pills, dismantled 90 international trafficking networks and shut down 17 production facilities in the 18 months following liberation, official figures showed, as authorities target the drug infrastructure left behind by the deposed regime.
The figures cover operations from December 8, 2024, through June 26, 2026. Further seizures reported in July and September show that the counter-narcotics campaign has continued beyond that period.
1,550 operations target Captagon infrastructure
The Drug Enforcement Department said authorities carried out 1,550 counter-narcotics operations during the 18-month period, dismantling 90 international trafficking networks, closing 17 Captagon production facilities and seizing 20 warehouses containing materials used in drug manufacturing.
Authorities also seized 15 tons of hashish, 10 million narcotic pills, 84.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 180 kilograms of cocaine, seven kilograms of heroin and 221 tons of raw materials used in drug production.
The scale of the seizures reflects a campaign increasingly focused on production sites, supply chains and trafficking networks rather than individual shipments alone.
Major seizures continue after June tally
Before the June 26 tally, authorities seized 25 million Captagon pills concealed inside ceramic containers on May 20 and arrested all seven members of the cell involved.
Operations continued after the reporting period. The Drug Enforcement Department seized 1.3 million Captagon pills in Homs on July 17 and intercepted 850,000 pills coming from Lebanon on July 27.
Authorities later seized 206,000 pills in al-Nabk on September 12 and another 310,000 in Homs on September 13. Those seizures are separate from the 697-million-pill total reported through June 26.
Regional cooperation targets cross-border networks
Syria has expanded counter-narcotics cooperation with countries affected by regional drug trafficking.
The Drug Enforcement Department said Syrian authorities conducted 28 joint operations with Iraq, 13 with Jordan, nine with Türkiye and five with Saudi Arabia, alongside coordination with Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon and cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The cooperation has included intelligence-sharing, tracking transnational networks and intercepting shipments moving along regional trafficking routes.
Campaign expands to prevention
On June 26, the Interior and Health ministries launched the “Syria Without Drugs” campaign to coincide with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, adding prevention and public awareness to ongoing enforcement efforts.
The campaign complements security operations targeting traffickers, smuggling networks and methods used to conceal narcotics shipments.
UN says large-scale production disrupted
UNODC said in research published in December 2025 that the regional Captagon market had “drastically changed” since December 2024, when industrial-scale illicit manufacturing operations in Syria began to be dismantled.
The agency said large-scale illicit production had been disrupted, although manufacturing on an unknown scale was likely continuing to supply the regional market.
UNODC said 80% of Captagon seizures reported across the region between January 2019 and November 2025, where a country of origin was identified, pointed to Syria. That period is separate from the Syrian authorities’ post-liberation figures through June 26, 2026. The agency also cited Syrian authorities as reporting the dismantling of 15 industrial-scale laboratories and 13 smaller storage facilities following the liberation of Syria in December 2024.
Syria has sought to shift from being a major source of Captagon to a partner in regional counter-narcotics efforts, combining domestic enforcement with cross-border cooperation. Continued seizures in July and September indicate that dismantling remaining trafficking networks remains an ongoing challenge.
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