ROME (ITALY) – Italian police officials revealed on Wednesday that they had seized a record quantity of amphetamine pills shipped from Syria. Describing the operation as the single largest of its kind, police said the 14 tonnes of pills are worth 1 billion euros ($1 billion).
According to investigators, three ships docked in Salerno were impounded and 84 million pills of Captagon were found stashed inside machinery and large paper cylinders.
“It is possible that the local Camorra crime groups are involved in this business,” said Lieutenant Colonel Giordano Natale.
Captagon is one of several brand names for fenethylline hydrochloride, which is a drug in the amphetamine family that keeps fear and fatigue at bay. In the 1960s, it was used to treat narcolepsy and depression.
Police say captagon is popular in the Middle East, especially in war-torn Syria.
A police statement mentioned that its production was initially concentrated in Lebanon and the Islamic State sells it to raise funds.
Captagon is also known as the “jihand drug” after it was found in terrorist hideouts.
While the spread of coronavirus has hindered the production and distribution of synthetic drugs, authorities say smugglers are resorting to Syria to procure such drugs.
Two weeks ago, Italian police recovered 2,800 kg of hashish and 1 million Captagon pills from Salerno. They were concealed among counterfeit clothing items.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field