Terror groups rely on drugs to recruit suicide bombers

DAMMAM: Terrorist organizations rely on drugs and hallucinogens to recruit suicide bombers and fighters to their ranks and turn them into mass-murder machines.
Experts and specialists reveal such drugs are used by bombers to calm them down before carrying out such attacks, as such substances cause them to be mentally absent but still alert.
Pharmacist Sobhi Al-Haddad, a member of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society and health media adviser, said suicide bombers use stimulant drugs, as well as psychotropic and narcotic substances of the amphetamine group. Such drugs go by several names, such as Congo, Bazooka, Captagon, and Abu Malaf. He explained that these small yellow and pink pills date back to the 1970s.
Such drugs cause dizziness and drowsiness, with effects getting worse with increased dosages and alcohol consumption, but one of its derivatives, dextroamphetamine, is highly addictive and causes hallucinations, mood changes, and convulsions.
According to professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at King Saud University’s Faculty of Pharmacy in Riyadh Prof. Hisham Abu Oden, Captagon is commonly used among terrorists, as it makes them not feel pain or fear death, thus dubbing it the name “Jihadist’s drug.” Upon consumption, it transforms users into unforgiving killing machines, as proven by the fact that terrorists abused these drugs prior to the Paris attacks and other incidents.
He said the CIA also uses several types of drugs with those from whom it seeks to obtain confessions, as it makes them likely to process and follow orders and be dictated to by others. Such drugs include scopolamine and Pentothal, commonly known as “truth drugs.” In the recent Bombay terrorist attack, which killed about 200 people, it was proven that the terrorists had been using cocaine to remain awake for more than 60 hours, he said.
Dr. Abdulghafoor Turkistani, a researcher at the Faculty of Pharmacy at King Saud University in Riyadh, revealed amphetamine and its derivatives is highly used among suicide bombers and terrorist organizations wishing to recruit fighters, as subjects often become addicts and begin to lose consciousness and awareness while accepting orders.
According to a researcher of terrorist organizations, journalist Mohammed Nimr, there are four key common factors that make suicide bombers distinct, namely confusion, fear, and redness of the eyes; drug abuse to the point they are not affected by any outside factors; poor academic records or weak family backgrounds; and wearing loose baggy clothes to make it easier to hide explosive belts and weapons.