Europe is bracing for the possible influx of a drug that’s hooked the Middle East as political shifts and crackdowns in the Gulf spur producers in Syria and Lebanon to tap new markets.
Selling for around $3 to $25 per tablet, the amphetamine-type pill captagon is primarily produced and trafficked by individuals and groups tied to Syrian President Bashar Assad and his ally the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, according to the U.S. State Department and Treasury, the U.K.’s Foreign Office as well as independent researchers.
Already popular in parts of the Middle East with everyone from teenagers to low-income construction workers, the narcotic is easy to make. Called "the poor man’s cocaine,” it’s reported to trigger bursts of energy and productivity, wakefulness, euphoria as well as delusions and a sense of invincibility. The drug has also been associated with militants in Iraq and Syria.