Frankly Speaking: Will the Assad regime kick its drug habits?

1 | Insights on Assad’s future plans
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Updated 25 June 2023
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Frankly Speaking: Will the Assad regime kick its drug habits?

  • On International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, expert doubts Syria’s intention to change despite Arab League readmission
  • Caroline Rose of New Lines Institute says killing of kingpin Al-Ramthan was significant for curtailing trafficking, not production
  • Arab News documentary probes Captagon trade sources, shines light on Kingdom’s battle against drug smuggling and consumption

DUBAI: As the world marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, leading Captagon trade researcher Caroline Rose says she is doubtful the Bashar Assad regime would relinquish its lucrative drug business income, despite apparent support and commitments to Arab countries during the Jeddah Arab League Summit last month.

Appearing on Frankly Speaking, Arab News’ current affairs talk show, the director of New Lines Institute pointed out that not only does Captagon production in Syria provide the regime with “a large source of revenue,” but “it also upholds a very delicate system of power in patronage inside of regime-held areas that the Assad regime has relied on throughout the civil war.”

She explained that many of the “big players” deeply involved in the Captagon trade, “such as Maher Assad,” are “relatives of Bashar Assad himself, or members of Syria’s very deep and very influential security apparatus,” and “they all have a role to play in continuing and keeping up the Syrian regime’s hold on power and territorial control across the country.

Asked about the impact of the Saudi-Jordanian-Egyptian airstrike that killed Captagon kingpin Merhi Al-Ramthan inside Syria on May 8, Rose replied that although Al-Ramthan was an “influential trafficker and smuggler in the south (of Syria),” he was not a key actor in production, making him a “smaller fish … that the regime could give up as a show of goodwill.”

She noted that “while Al-Ramthan was given up, a number of other key individuals were not,” meaning the move was “an opportunity for the Syrian regime to … show it was genuine about cracking down on the Captagon trade.”




Speaking to Jensen, Rose pointed out that Captagon is popular among different demographics in the Gulf. (AN Photo)

The joint airstrike came a week after Syria committed to assisting in ending drug trafficking along its borders with Jordan and Iraq. The foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan met in Amman in early May and discussed developing a roadmap to reach a political settlement for the 12-year war.

Elaborating on the significance of Al-Ramthan’s killing, Rose pointed out that in southern Syria, which “has grown in importance in the Captagon trade,” the deceased kingpin “operated a very large network of traffickers that would be enlisted and recruited — many of them were local tribes or traffickers that had been participating in illicit trades for decades.”

She added that Al-Ramthan “was responsible for trying to export the Captagon trade out of Syria,” emphasizing that traffickers in south Syria attempted to find new routes “that could serve as a pathway to Arab Gulf destination markets.”

Rose believes Al-Ramthan’s killing has “served a message to a number of traffickers” that “if you are not in close, close coordination with the Syrian regime, then you have a target on your back.”

For this reason, she believes the world is braced for “much more creative and sophisticated ways of smuggling and Captagon production as a result,” but not necessarily comparable to the opioid epidemic, which “coincided with a huge uptick in deaths and fatality,” particularly in the US.

With Captagon, “we have not necessarily seen the fatality rate that we have seen with the opioid epidemic, so I do not want to put that on the same plane,” she said.

In 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. It was reported that from 1999 to 2019, there were more than 760,000 deaths due to overdoses, and in 2020, opioids were involved in approximately 75 percent of all overdose fatalities.

However, citing the diverse and broad Captagon smuggling capacity, Rose added that “in terms of the sophisticated and advanced smuggling techniques, I think that Captagon is definitely competitive in that aspect.”

She added: “We have seen fruit and vegetables used (and) machinery. We have seen designer bags, school desks, sometimes even drone technology used to smuggle Captagon — and this counts for not only Captagon shipments that are being sent to maritime ports, but also Captagon that is being seized along overland border crossings as well.

“These smugglers are closely monitoring the different shifts in trade, but also interdiction capacity amongst law-enforcement entities, and they are very much calculating new ways that they can traffic Captagon to reach new destination markets and carve out new transit markets in the process.”




Rose during her Frankly Speaking interview said become extremely popular primarily due to its “variety of different uses.” (AN Photo)

Last month, the Biden administration said it would release a congressional-approved strategy to curb the flow of Captagon from Syria. This has prompted the question of why it took the US almost a decade to act when Syria’s narco-trade began after the war erupted in 2011.

Rose said that the strategy to stem Syria’s Captagon trade was “originally an NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) amendment in the previous year,” and “it took two years to get it passed.”

She added that “the recognition (of) Captagon as an issue and as a crisis in the region … took quite a while. It took a while to also compound and compile evidence of the regime’s participation in the trade, and for the United States to really wake up to the fact that this was not necessarily just any illicit economy that was in the region, but it was something that had real security and geopolitical implications.

“I think also … just typical bureaucracy as well. It takes very, very long, especially in the US legislative system, to get initiatives like these passed.”

On the prevalence of Captagon in the Middle East and its expanding global reach, Rose said the drug, which is sold at relatively low prices, has become extremely popular primarily due to its “variety of different uses” — it can suppress trauma, improve productivity, and induce a euphoric feeling.

She pointed out that the drug is popular among different demographics in the Gulf, with some people using it recreationally, “but also amongst university students studying for exams to increase productivity. We have seen it across the region used by taxi drivers, by lorry drivers and truck drivers … as well as workers that are looking to work a second shift.”

“The biggest piece of information about Captagon that really should be better communicated to the public, particularly in destination markets like Saudi Arabia, is the fact that we do not know what is inside of Captagon pills anymore,” Rose said.

Elaborating on the point, she said: “It used to be ethylene in the 1960s to the 1980s … but really since the early 2000s, we have seen a variety of different Captagon formulas pop up through one of the very few chemical analyses that have been conducted.”

“And because of this lack of uniformity, producers can make Captagon whatever they want it to be, and that causes and should spark serious, serious public health concerns.”

Saudi Arabia, according to Rose, is a “lucrative” market for Captagon-trafficking networks mainly due to wealth and demographic composition, including “a considerable population of youth with a lot of cash to spend.”

A new documentary by Arab News, titled “Abu Hilalain: Inside the Kingdom’s crackdown on Captagon,” delves into Saudi Arabia’s battle against Captagon, examining the origins, methods of production, and trafficking of the drug while investigating its consumption within the country.

 

The Kingdom vs Captagon
Inside Saudi Arabia's war against the drug destroying lives across the Arab world

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Head of controversial US-backed Gaza aid group resigns

Updated 26 May 2025
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Head of controversial US-backed Gaza aid group resigns

  • Jake Wood says he accepted the role as head of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation "to help alleviate the suffering" in Gaza
  • But he is stepping down because “it had become clear that implementing the organization’s plan was not possible”

WASHINGTON: The head of a controversial US-backed group preparing to move aid into the Gaza Strip announced his abrupt resignation Sunday, adding fresh uncertainty over the effort’s future.
In a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), executive director Jake Wood explained that he felt compelled to leave after determining the organization could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to “humanitarian principles.”
The foundation, which has been based in Geneva since February, has vowed to distribute some 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operation.
But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, amid accusations it is working with Israel.
The GHF has emerged as international pressure mounts on Israel over the conditions in Gaza, where it has pursued a military onslaught in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
A more than two-month total blockade on the territory only began to ease in recent days, as agencies warned of growing starvation risks.
“Two months ago, I was approached about leading GHF’s efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations” Wood said.
“Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering.”
Wood stressed that he was “proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza.”
But, he said, it had become “clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.”
Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday that at least 3,785 people had been killed in the territory since a ceasefire collapsed on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,939, mostly civilians.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Wood called on Israel “to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms” while also urging “all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination.”

 


Israeli strike kills 20 in Gaza school housing displaced people, health authorities say

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israeli strike kills 20 in Gaza school housing displaced people, health authorities say

  • Medics said the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, included women and children

GAZA CITY: An Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in Gaza killed at least 20 people and injured dozens, local authorities told Reuters early on Monday.
Israel stepped up its military operations in the enclave in early May, saying it is seeking to eliminate Hamas' military and governing capabilities and bring back the remaining hostages who were seized in October 2023.
Medics said the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, included women and children.
Some of the bodies were badly burned according to images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.
Despite mounting international pressure that pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel would control the whole of Gaza.
Israel has taken control of around 77% of the enclave either through its ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardments that keep residents away from their homes, Gaza's media office said.
The Israeli campaign, triggered after Hamas Islamist militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, has devastated Gaza and pushed nearly all of its two million residents from their homes.
The offensive has killed more than 53,000 people, many of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.

 


Israel leader meets visiting US homeland security secretary: PM’s office

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israel leader meets visiting US homeland security secretary: PM’s office

  • The visit comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with visiting US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Jerusalem on Sunday, his office said.
US and Israeli media reported that Trump had sent Noem to Jerusalem following the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington last week.
Noem was accompanied at her meeting with Netanyahu by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement Sunday night.
The office added that during the meeting Noem “expressed her unreserved support for the prime minister and the State of Israel.”
The visit comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip in what it says is a renewed effort to destroy Hamas.
Earlier in the evening, Noem and Huckabee had visited the city’s Western Wall, where early celebrations for Monday’s “Jerusalem Day” holiday were taking place.
The holiday commemorates what Israel considers Jerusalem’s reunification under its authority after the city’s eastern sector was captured by its forces in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.


’Death is sometimes kinder’: Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family

Updated 26 May 2025
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’Death is sometimes kinder’: Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family

  • The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent’s worst nightmare

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Alaa Al-Najjar was tending to wounded children at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip when the news came through: the home where her own 10 children were staying had been bombed in an Israeli air strike.
The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent’s worst nightmare.
“When she saw the charred bodies, she started screaming and crying,” said Ali Al-Najjar, the brother of Alaa’s husband.
Nine of her children were killed, their bodies burned beyond recognition, according to relatives.
The tenth, 10-year-old Adam, survived the strike but remains in critical condition, as does his father, Hamdi Al-Najjar, also a doctor, who was also at home when the strike hit.
Both are in intensive care at Nasser Hospital.
When the body of her daughter Nibal was pulled from the rubble, Alaa screamed her name, her brother-in-law recounted.
The following day, under a tent set up near the destroyed home, the well-respected paediatric specialist sat in stunned silence, still in shock.
Around her, women wept as the sounds of explosions echoed across the Palestinian territory, battered by more than a year and a half of war.

The air strike on Friday afternoon was carried out without warning, relatives said.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure” near its troops, adding that claims of civilian harm were under review.
“I couldn’t recognize the children in the shrouds,” Alaa’s sister, Sahar Al-Najjar, said through tears. “Their features were gone.”
“It’s a huge loss. Alaa is broken,” said Mohammed, another close family member.
According to medical sources, Hamdi Al-Najjar underwent several operations at the Jordanian field hospital.
Doctors had to remove a large portion of his right lung and gave him 17 blood transfusions.
Adam had one hand amputated and suffers from severe burns across his body.
“I found my brother’s house like a broken biscuit, reduced to ruins, and my loved ones were underneath,” Ali Al-Najjar said, recalling how he dug through the rubble with his bare hands alongside paramedics to recover the children’s bodies.
Now, he dreads the moment his brother regains consciousness.
“I don’t know how to tell him. Should I tell him his children are dead? I buried them in two graves.”
“There is no safe place in Gaza,” he added with a weary sigh. “Death is sometimes kinder than this torture.”
 

 


Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including a journalist and children

Updated 26 May 2025
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Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza kill 38 people including a journalist and children

  • Local journalist and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday
  • Latest deaths resulted from Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, including children, a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health officials said Sunday.

The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
In Jabalia, they said local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday.
Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said that Abu Warda’s death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220.
In a separate statement, the media office said Israeli forces were in control of 77 percent of the Gaza Strip, either through ground forces or evacuation orders and bombardment that keeps residents away from their homes.

The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said in separate statements on Sunday that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.
On Friday the Israeli military said it had conducted more strikes in Gaza overnight, hitting 75 targets including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.
Further details emerged of the Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire in March.

Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people by Israeli tallies with 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. Hamas has yet to release the 58 hostages it still holds.
The conflict has killed more than 53,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip. Aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.
Israel also blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts’ warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel’s top allies.
Israel is pursuing a new US-backed plan to control all aid to Gaza, but the American heading the effort unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that his organization would not be allowed to operate independently.
The United Nations has rejected the plan. UN World Food Program executive director Cindy McCain told CBS she has not seen evidence to support Israel’s claims that Hamas is responsible for the looting of aid trucks. “These people are desperate, and they see a World Food Program truck coming in and they run for it,” she said.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said 107 trucks of aid entered Sunday. The UN has called the rate far from enough. About 600 trucks a day entered during the ceasefire.
Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.