Damascus — In a remote corner outside of Damascus, Syria, a now-abandoned potato chip factory reveals one of its many dark but open secrets ousted Bashar al-Assad regime.
A CBS News team accessed the site, finding a warehouse with industrial-scale hydrochloric and acetic acid, which are precursors to the chemicals needed to produce Captagonone of the most popular street drugs in the Middle East and beyond.
Ahmed Abu Yakin with Syria Hayat Tahrir al-Shamor HTS, one of the main groups that rule the country after Assad fled December 8. Yakin says this massive underground supply of Captagon was discovered just days after being captured by the rebel group. Tablets are packed into large stacks of household voltage regulator kits ready to ship.
Captagon, often referred to as the “poor man's cocaine,” is an amphetamine-type stimulant that is highly addictive.
“We feel sorry for the young people who got addicted,” Yakin said. “The Assad regime was destroying a generation and he didn't care. They only cared about making money.”
And this money is staggering. Analysts estimate the Assad regime received $5 billion a year from the trade, which has cut into Syria's official budget and made it a vital lifeline for the bankrupt state. The drug costs just pennies to produce, but can sell for up to $20 per pill. The property seen in the abandoned factory is potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.
For years, neighboring countries have accused Assad's Syria of being the world's leading supplier of illegal drugs. In March 2023, the US Treasury Department sanctioned several Syrians for their alleged involvement in “dangerous amphetamines,” including two of Assad's cousins.
“Syria has become the world leader in the production of the highly addictive captagon, much of which is transported through Lebanon.” said At the time, Andrea Gacchi, who was then director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Ministry of Finance. “Together with our allies, we will prosecute those who support Bashar al-Assad's regime with illicit drug proceeds and other financial means that allow the regime to continue its repression of the Syrian people.”
Now his hugely profitable drug business appears to have been crushed along with his brutal and corrupt regime. Yakin Kaptagon has no place in Syria's future.
“We will destroy it all,” Yakin said. “We will eliminate everything that has to do with drugs and everything that has to do with the Assad criminal regime.”
