Under Bashar al-Assad, Syria had become a narco-state
Syria became a narco-state under Bashar al-Assad. The regime mass-produced the synthetic drug captagon. The business led the country to account for 80% of global production and brought in between 30 and 40 billion dollars per year.
Over the past 20 years, Bashar al-Assad's regime has transformed itself into a dangerous drug cartel. Isolated internationally, the regime used billions from the illegal captagon trade to survive, despite economic sanctions.
The leader had the synthetic drug produced industrially and flooded the entire Middle East with it. Between 30 and 40 billion dollars were collected from the lucrative business every year in order to support the Syrian economy.
According to the European Union, the mass production of captagon had become "an economic model run by the regime, which enriched its inner circle". This is why Syria has often been called a narco-state.
(MH with AmBar/Source: LCI/Photo: DPA/NurPhoto | Aman Rochman)