LONDON: Syria’s anti-drug authority said on Thursday it arrested a suspected drug dealer in Damascus and seized 87,000 Captagon pills in his possession.

The suspect and the seized drugs were referred to judicial authorities for legal proceedings, the state-run agency SANA reported, citing the Drug Enforcement Department in Damascus.

The seizure followed a separate operation Oct. 12 in Homs province, where anti-drug officers seized 250,000 Captagon pills and detained two suspects.

That operation was prompted by reports of suspicious vehicle movements at an abandoned farm in the province’s southern countryside.

Syria was a global hub for the illicit production and trafficking of Captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant, under the regime of now-deposed President Bashar Assad, according to media reports.

A late 2025 research by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime showed that since the fall of Assad in December 2024, the new authorities dismantled 15 industrial-level laboratories and 13 smaller facilities for storage.

However, the report warned that Captagon manufacturing was likely continuing outside of Syria. Gulf countries, it found, continue to be the primary destination market for Captagon, despite signs of shortages.