Syria seizes Captagon intended for Iraq in rare narcotics raid

Pro-Iranian militias are interlinked with the booming trade

Captagon tablets seized in Syria in 2022 by fighters from the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebel group. AFP

Syrian authorities said on Thursday that security forces seized 600,000 Captagon pills that were to be smuggled into Iraq, in a rare raid on the narcotics trade dominated by Iran-backed groups, as Damascus comes under pressure from Israel over its ties with Tehran.

A security unit in Damascus foiled the smuggling attempt and confiscated the amphetamine-type stimulant from a car after storming a farm on the outskirts of the capital, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. A man was arrested, it said, without revealing his nationality. He is part of a network that transports and smuggles drugs to Iraq through Syria, the statement said, adding that a search is on for his accomplices.

Iraq is one of the transit points to Saudi Arabia and Europe for Captagon manufactured in Syria. Iraq is also a conduit for raw materials from Afghanistan for Captagon and other drugs produced in Syria, where cartels in areas of Iranian influence have developed economies of scale.

Elite Syrian army and intelligence units, which underpin the ruling system, have come under attack by Israel in the past several months, straining the alliance between Damascus and Tehran. Since the 2011 Syrian revolt, Iran has deployed proxy militia in Syria that became interlinked with a multi-billion dollar trade in narcotics sourced from the country. Together with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the militias control a corridor from Iraq to the border with Lebanon.

Israeli planes on Thursday struck a road and workshops in the central area of Qusayr, residents said on WhatsApp groups, in the latest raid of the area on the border with Hezbollah's strongholds in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Official media quoted a Syrian military official as saying Israel targeted residential buildings.

Earlier this month, pro-regime Telegram groups said the army had banned Lebanese cars from entering areas near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where Hezbollah and Iraqi militias are widely believed to have built up a mostly clandestine presence in recent years.

This week, security restrictions were placed on Iraqis seeking to enter Syria, Syrian and Iraqi sources said. A travel agent in Baghdad who handles trips to Syria told The National that Iraqis will have to apply online through travel agents for security permission to enter Syria, for a $70 fee. A further $50 is required for a visa once security permission is granted.

In another development indicating possible pressure on Iraqis in Syria, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that it was providing buses to transport those who wish to "return voluntarily". They should contact the embassy in Damascus to reserve a seat, it said.

According to posts on pro-regime Syrian Telegram groups, Iraqis wanting to enter the country must also provide proof of a hotel reservation. "It is joyous news," a member of one group commented.

Previously, Iraqis were automatically issued a Syrian visa at the port of entry. Authorities have not declared the visa requirements and there has been no official Syrian announcement about the new restrictions.

Curbing the Captagon trade was also a condition under which Arab countries started normalising ties with Damascus in the last two years, although there has been little indication of a decline in the flows. In May, the Iraqi and Syrian interior ministries signed a security agreement that included a commitment to combat the flow of narcotics across the border.

The Syrian side of the border is controlled by the pro-Iranian groups. Other parts of the border are under the control of a Kurdish-led militia supported by Washington.

The US Treasury Department earlier this month placed fresh sanctions on figures linked to Syria's ruling elite and Hezbollah. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Captagon is “a source of funding for the Syrian regime" and for Hezbollah.

Although Hezbollah and Iraqi militias enter unchecked into Syria, and are too powerful to be made to submit to local curbs on their activities, the latest moves by Damascus appear to signal new limits to the open-door policy towards Iraqis shuttling between their country and areas of Iranian influence in Syria. Large numbers of Iraqis enter Syria each year. Many are Shiites visiting a shrine near Damascus, and thousands of Shiite militiamen are also stationed in Syria, with many bringing in their families.

In addition to Russian support, the Syrian military fought alongside these Iran-backed groups to capture rebel areas, with civil war fronts still active in northern Syria and other regions. However, since September, Israel has increasingly launched attacks on Syrian security sites, including the elite Fourth Mechanised Division and Syrian Intelligence compounds, as well as launching raids on Iraqi militia targets, Hezbollah and the IRGC. This has raised pressure on the ruling elite in Damascus, who depended on pro-Iranian auxiliaries, as well as Russia's military intervention, for survival throughout the Syrian civil war.

Arab and Western intelligence sources say Israel has abandoned the restraint it has previously shown when it comes to attacking the top echelons of the Syrian military. Brig Gen Maher Al Assad, the President's brother and the second most powerful man in Syria, may have become a target because of his close ties with Iran, the sources said. He controls the Fourth Mechanised Division, the best-equipped unit in the army, which is in charge of border areas.

Earlier this month, Israel launched air strikes on the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, near the Alawite Mountains, the heartland of the Alawite minority religious sect that has monopolised power in Syria since a 1963 coup.

The attack, which according to sources in the Syrian opposition hit a weapons storage facility, was seen as another Israeli warning to Mr Al Assad. He has a palace near Latakia and many Alawite officers who control the security apparatus come from there.