A lesser-known but escalating crisis grips the Middle East along the border between Syria and Jordan – captagon, an amphetamine that has become a multimillion-dollar industry.

This powerful drug, according to the Wall Street Journal, is used by everyone from students to wrestlers. Medicine has become entrenched in everyday life, cutting across social and economic classes.

According to the WSJ report, smugglers are finding creative ways to move the drug across borders, from drones and carrier pigeons to catapults and baby couriers.

The multibillion-dollar drug trade is reportedly fueling a massive trade that has lined the pockets of Iran-backed militias, including Hezbollah, which are allegedly turning drug profits into weapons purchases to fuel the war against Israel.

Captagon isn’t just a street-level problem; has powerful patrons. The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is accused of industrializing the production of captagon to offset the crushing rate of international sanctions.

Syrian and Lebanese operations, often linked to Iran-backed factions, control vast networks of production, trafficking and profit, leading to the rapid proliferation of drugs in the region.

Syria, however, denies any role in the drug trade, despite reports that the Assad regime brings in billions annually from Captagon.

According to the Political and Economic Networks Observatory, a Syrian and Arab research organization that tracks the captagon trade, the regime earned an annual average of about $2.4 billion between 2020 and 2022 — about a quarter of Syria’s GDP.

The US sees the captagon as a threat to stability in allied nations such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In 2022, President Biden signed the Captagon Act, calling for a US strategy to disrupt smuggling and build law enforcement partnerships in the Middle East against captagon networks.

Jordan, which has deployed a third of its army along the border to reduce the flow of drugs across the Syrian border, is cracking down heavily on smuggling.

The nation’s soldiers even adopted a “shoot to kill” policy to deal with smugglers.

US satellite-guided bombs and intelligence sharing have supported Jordan’s operations, but the drug trade remains rampant.

According to the New Lines Institute, since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, the captagon of the captagon in Jordan has multiplied fourfold and they are often accompanied by illicit arms shipments.

Jordan’s anti-drug department arrested about 35,000 people on drug charges last year, a 24 percent increase from the previous year. In June, Jordanian authorities foiled two smuggling operations involving nearly 10 million illicit pills worth up to $200 million destined for Saudi Arabia.

Originally developed in Germany in the 1960s to treat conditions such as ADHD.

Its main ingredient, according to the report, is pseudoephedrine, which is commonly found in cold and flu medications. The drug itself is versatile and dangerous, often laced with sedatives, stimulants and even heavy metals — enhancements that increase addiction but increase health risks.

Captagon was outlawed in the 80s, but Syrian and Lebanese traffickers saw opportunity in its potency and high demand. Production exploded during the Syrian civil war, turning Syria into a captagon power.

(With contributions from agencies)

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