The Silent War: Syrian National Army fights against drug trafficking by Damascus and the YPG

In 2019, the large quantities of drugs seized on ships belonging to companies based in Latakia, the stronghold of the Damascus administration in Syria, which reached Libya, did not attract much attention due to the conflict. Subsequently, Syria-based drug smuggling attempts in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Yemen, Iraq and Pakistan, as well as in Greece and Italy, have been on the agenda from time to time, but the issue of how the Damascus government has turned into a narco-state to finance the war has not yet attracted attention.

Having regained control over Syria’s borders with Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, the Damascus regime has become the sole power in controlling the trafficking. Unlike in previous years, this time, with the support of Iran, it has begun to manage a vast drug network with a revenue of billions of dollars, covering not only neighboring countries, but the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean region. With 80% of the world’s captagon drug production, the Damascus government is the most important stakeholder in this illegal industry, which is estimated to generate revenues of $5.7 billion.

Until Italia seizure 14 tonnes of 84 million captagons in 2020, little was known about the danger posed by the Latakia-based drug and its vital importance for the Damascus regime. Initially thought to belong to ISIS, it soon became clear that it was not, due to the quantity of drugs and the route of shipment. The answer was obvious since the intelligence and military cadres of the Damascus regime monopolized smuggling in the pre-war period.

The Damascus regime, which had lost most of its sources of income due to economic sanctions and war and had a huge military burden to support, was trying to survive by taking the illegal route, which would provide it with the fastest source of income, by placing drugs on the global market. The source of the Damascus regime’s drug flow, which made the world’s agenda with the shipment in Italy, can be traced to Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Samir Kemal al-Assad. With the coordination of the 4th Division under Maher al-Assad, who has close relations with Iran-backed Hezbollah and Tehran, drugs worth billions of dollars are produced in Latakia. Tahir Ali Kayali, who has good relations with Mudar al-Assad, another cousin of Bashar al-Assad, is the most prominent name of the illicit trade network in the Mediterranean region. In 2018, $100 million worth of drugs were found on Kayali’s freighter Noka off the coast of Crete by Greece.

Hezbollah, which helps the Damascus regime to produce captagon drugs by controlling illegal crossings in Lebanon, the third largest producer of cannabis in the world, uses its power in the country to make endless shipments from Beirut to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. The Iranian-backed militias in Syria have established themselves in the south of the country, citing the Iraqi connection, the presence of Israel and the shrines in Damascus, while at the same time controlling the drug trade to Jordan.

Jordan’s efforts to combat drug trafficking have not been limited to strengthening customs and increasing military patrols. On 8 May, the Jordanian Air Force destroyed an Iranian-linked drug production center in southern Syria. Captagon drug trafficking is as much a problem for Turkey as it is for Jordan. Compared to other countries, the flow of drug smuggling into Turkey remains at a lower level, but Turkey seized the largest amount of drugs attempted to be smuggled into the country with 2 tones at a port in Istanbul.

In 2022, at least 370 million captagon pills were seized worldwide and in the first half of 2023, at least 46 million pills were seized every month. And the drugs seized in several countries are thought to account for only 5 to 10% of the Damascus government’s income from the drug trade.

In the flow of drugs by the Damascus administration and its allies, the YPG stands out as an important partner for two routes: Iraq and opposition areas. Amphetamines and other types of drugs produced in the regime’s territory are transferred to Iraq through some tribes within the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), of which the YPG is a component, and units affiliated to the YPG. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has identified captagon as the drug of most concern in Iraq due to the flow of amphetamines into Iraq from the north via Yarubiyah and from the south via Deir ez-Zor and Albu Kamal neighborhoods.

Beside Iraq, the YPG provides drug transit to opposition areas controlled by the Syrian Interim Government in the east of the Euphrates River and bordering the Manbij area. While the Damascus administration and Iranian-backed militias cooperate with the terrorist organization in Western Aleppo and Tal Rifaat, the YPG organizes the transport and smuggling of drugs into opposition-held areas that are inaccessible to the regime and its allies.