The Nightmare Drug Captagon Is Still Fuelling Syria's Civil War

A customs officer displays a handful of confiscated Captagon pills. (REUTERS / Nikolay Doychinov)

CBC: Meet Captagon, the nightmare drug fuelling Syria's civil war

When authorities at Charles de Gaulle Airport discovered 750,000 pills being smuggled into the country inside industrial moulds, the drugs were so well hidden they needed special tools to cut them out.

It turned out that the drug in the shipment was Captagon, a powerful amphetamine.

Investigators said this week they believe some of the cache was en route to Saudi Arabia.

That would make sense: Captagon use is unusual in France, but very common in the Middle East, especially in Saudi, where it's used recreationally and in Syria, where it plays a surprising role in the country's civil war.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I have covered this story before .... How The Amphetamine Known As Captagon Is Fueling Syria's Civil War (January 14, 2014). More here .... 'Captagon' Is Now The 'Jihad Meth' Of Choice For Islamic State Fighters (January 15, 2014).

'Captagon' Is Now The 'Jihad Meth' Of Choice Fo Islamic State Fighters

Jerusalem Post: Cache of 'jihad meth' seized in West Bank

The amphetamine, "Captagon", enjoys popularity throughout the Arab world and has now reached the Palestinian territories.

Update #1: ISIS Fighters Use Amphetamines For Courage -- Western Journalism
Update #2: The Gulf seems captivated by captagon, but why? -- Justin Thomas, The National

WNU Editor: The above video report is from last year .... since then the drug's use has exploded. It appears to be also a major means for the various military groups to fund the purchase of weapons .... a further guarantee that the conflicts in Syria and in Iraq will all but continue to escalate as more and more (better and deadlier) weapons flow in.