Syrian security forces said they seized 280kg of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills after an armed clash with smugglers attempting to move the narcotics from Lebanon.
The Syrian Border Guard Forces thwarted the smuggling attempt in the Serghaya area of rural Damascus, Sana reported. It added that the smugglers started firing at the security forces, who then also responded by firing shots, prompting the culprits to flee towards Lebanese territory.
“The operation resulted in the seizure of 280 kilograms of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills, with the seized items referred to the competent authorities to complete legal procedures,” Sana said.
Last week, customs officials at the Jisr Qamar border crossing with Lebanon thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics hidden inside a speaker. In early October, authorities seized more than half a million Captagon pills "coming from Lebanon" at the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing, Sana added.
Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-like substance that was produced on a mass scale during Syria's civil war, which broke out in 2011. Production and trade became a vital source of funding for former president Bashar Al Assad's regime.
Since his downfall in December 2024, Syria's authorities have been clamping down on the multibillion-dollar illegal drugs network, with nationwide operations shutting down illicit manufacturing sites, and increasing cross-border co-operation with its regional neighbours.
Instead of Syria being what officials had called a “Captagon hub” and a “source of threat”, last month the country announced it was an “active partner in combating” the drug trade.
Despite efforts to improve it, the Lebanese-Syrian border remains extremely porous, and smuggling of people, goods and narcotics continues to occur.
The neighbouring countries have had a tumultuous relationship, marked by Syria's intervention in Lebanon during the civil war in 1976 and its decades-long tutelage of the country, during which Syria's Assad regime was accused of carrying out several political assassinations.
