LONDON: Jordan has seized 6 million Captagon pills at the border with Iraq, the BBC reported on Sunday. The Jordanian Customs Department said it was one of the country's biggest-ever seizures of drugs.
The pills were discovered smuggled in date paste in two refrigerated lorries at the Iraq-Jordan border crossing of Al-Karamah, the BBC added.
It is currently unknown where the pills were to be sold or how many people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant with a large market in the Middle East, is mass-produced in war-torn Syria.
During the peak of the decade-long conflict, militant groups provided the drug to fighters, often laced with caffeine, to strengthen their courage, the BBC said.
Many ordinary Syrians have become involved in the trade in the midst of increasing poverty, and it is now worth significantly more than all legal exports.
Cyprus-based think tank COAR estimated Captagon exports from Syria had a market value of roughly $3.5 billion in 2020.
Reports have tied powerful figures in business and the military to the production and distribution of Captagon, the BBC reported, but the Syrian government has repeatedly denied this.
The amphetamine is being smuggled into neighboring countries, including Lebanon as well as Jordan.
Jordan has tightened border controls and ramped up its efforts to combat drug trafficking in recent years.
On Dec. 15, Jordan’s state security court sentenced a Syrian national to 20 years in prison and a 20,000 dinar fine, and a Jordanian national to 10 years in prison and a 10,000 dinar fine, for attempting to smuggle nearly 2 million Captagon pills into the country from Syria.
