Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate said it carried out an operation in the al-Dumayr area (Rif Dimashq governorate, southern Syria) that resulted in the seizure of about 12 million Captagon pills prepared for smuggling out of the country and the arrest of the network’s lead suspect.
Brig. Gen. Khaled Eid, the director of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate, said on Monday, October 20, that the raid followed “reliable intelligence” on a network moving large quantities of narcotics.
According to the Interior Ministry’s statement on Facebook, the Rif Dimashq Anti-Narcotics Branch, working with the Internal Security Directorate, conducted several days of “precise surveillance and tracking” before executing the raid.
Eid added that the seized quantity was confiscated ahead of its destruction, while the detainee was referred to the competent judiciary to continue investigations. Authorities are pursuing the remaining members of the network.
The operation is among the largest seizures in the area, based on Enab Baladi’s review of recent cases, and comes under what the Interior Ministry describes as a “firm approach” to combating drug smuggling and drying up its sources inside Syria.
Ongoing efforts to combat and disrupt trafficking networks
The Anti-Narcotics Directorate continues to run “qualitative operations” across governorates and border areas, in cooperation with Internal Security directorates and local and international intelligence partners, as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle smuggling and distribution networks and curb supply routes.
In Homs (central Syria), the branch, working with the al-Qusayr Security Directorate (Homs countryside, near the Lebanese border), on October 8, seized equipment used to manufacture Captagon that had been buried under an earthen berm along the border with Lebanon. The materials were handed to the competent authorities, and the precursors were destroyed in line with legal and technical procedures.
In Daraa (southern Syria), a series of operations resulted in the seizure of large quantities of drugs that included 35 kilograms of, 153 kilograms of hashish, and 2.5 kilograms of crystal meth that were prepared for smuggling out of the country. Another shipment of Captagon pills concealed in jars of tomato paste was also discovered.
In Yafour (Rif Dimashq, near Damascus), the Directorate said that on September 2, in cooperation with Turkish intelligence, it conducted a “qualitative” operation that seized 500 kilograms of precursor chemicals used in drug production, in addition to a large quantity of Captagon pills hidden inside foodstuffs and buried underground. All suspects were arrested and referred to the judiciary.
The Aleppo branch (northern Syria) dismantled a trafficking ring and seized about 200,000 Captagon pills from those involved.
The Anti-Narcotics Directorate, in coordination with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics Control, also intercepted 1,350,000 Captagon pills prepared for smuggling. Joint efforts with Jordan thwarted seven smuggling attempts across the border and seized about one million pills, while organized criminal networks posing a threat to the security of both countries and the region were dismantled.
Training courses
On August 9, with delegations from Qatar and Iraq in attendance, the city of Harim (Idlib countryside, northwestern Syria) witnessed the graduation of the first class of an anti-narcotics course, as part of the Syrian Interior Ministry’s commitment to training specialized cadres and enhancing Arab cooperation against drug trafficking.
The graduation ceremony at the Police College featured military drills by Anti-Narcotics infantry teams, a demonstration by the aerial reconnaissance unit, and a K9 segment showcasing the detection skills of police dogs trained to find narcotics.
The event also included a staged simulation of drug dealing and distribution operations to show how units respond with professionalism and precision. At the close of the ceremony, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab honored the top three graduates to encourage excellence within the directorate’s ranks, in the presence of local clerics and community leaders.
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