ISTANBUL / Anadolu

Syria's Anti-Narcotics Administration on Friday thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1.3 million Captagon pills out of the country during a security operation in the central province of Homs.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Anti-Narcotics Administration said it "thwarted, through a security operation in Homs province, an attempt to smuggle a huge shipment of narcotics out of the country after precise monitoring and tracking."

It added that the operation "resulted in the arrest of the person responsible for the shipment, identified as (R.W.), and the seizure of 1.3 million Captagon pills, which were hidden inside plastic buckets as camouflage."

The Anti-Narcotics Administration explained that "the shipment was fully confiscated, while investigations continue with the detainee to uncover his accomplices and the rest of those involved, pending his referral to the competent judiciary and taking the necessary legal measures against him."

Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8, 2024, Syrian authorities have intensified their campaigns to combat drug production and smuggling, following the flourishing Captagon trade during the former regime's era.

In 2023, the British government said that about 80 percent of the world's Captagon supply was produced in Syria, and that the former regime was deeply involved in its trade, which constituted a financial resource for it and for figures close to it.