Iraq seizes three million captagon pills on Syria border

The amphetamine-type stimulant has been sweeping the Middle East for years. The pills had been hidden in apple crates, the Iraqi border authority said

A border authority official said the shipment contained captagon pills produced by several manufacturers and the lorry driver had been arrested

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Captagon pills, hidden in apple crates, after they were seized by Iraqi authorities at the al-Qaim border crossing between Syria and Iraq on Saturday. Photo: Iraq Border Authority / AFP

Published: 3:46am, 12 Mar 2023

Iraqi authorities on Saturday said they had seized three million pills of captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant that has been sweeping the Middle East for years, near the Syrian border.

The pills had been hidden in apple crates “loaded on to a refrigerator truck” and discovered at the Al-Qaim crossing between Syria’s Deir Ezzor province and western Iraq’s Anbar desert region, the Iraqi border authority said.

The lorry driver had been arrested, the agency added in a statement.

Captagon pills seized by the Iraqi authorities at the Al-Qaim border crossing between Syria and Iraq on Saturday. Photo: Iraq Border Authority / AFP

A border authority official told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity that the shipment from Syria into Iraq contained captagon pills produced by several manufacturers.

Iraqi security forces have intensified narcotics operations in recent months, with several high-profile drug seizures reported.

Sharing borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and other countries, Iraq has served as a major conduit for traffickers of captagon, which is primarily produced in Syria and has its largest market in Gulf Arab states.

The sale and use of drugs in Iraq has soared in recent years.