ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Syria on Monday seized 12 million Captagon pills in a raid on a smuggling network near the capital Damascus, the interior ministry said, as authorities continue cracking down on the stimulant. 

“After precise and continuous follow-up, a successful qualitative operation was carried out that resulted in the seizure of approximately 12 million Captagon pills in the Dumayr area,” head of Syria’s anti-narcotics department Khaled Eid said in a statement.

Eid said the network leader was arrested while the rest are still being pursued and that the confiscated drugs were being prepared to be destroyed.

Dumayr is a city located around 45 kilometers northeast of Damascus.

“This operation comes as part of the firm approach of the Anti-Narcotics Administration in confronting smuggling, drying up its sources, and pursuing traffickers,” Eid noted.

Captagon, the brand name for the amphetamine-type psychostimulant fenethylline, was mainly produced and distributed in Syria during the former Bashar al-Assad regime. It is mainly used in the Gulf countries, with Saudi Arabia being the main consumer.

Since Assad’s fall, the new authorities in Damascus have repeatedly announced the seizure of drugs around the country, but neighbouring countries continue to report the interception of shipments. 

The new authorities in Damascus have also come under pressure from the international community to crack down on the Captagon trade.