‘A dirty business’: how one drug is turning Syria into a narco

The Guardian

Lean Left

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Independent: Scott Trust Limited

‘A dirty business’: how one drug is turning Syria into a narco

Manufacture of Captagon is a growth industry so big it is starting to rival GDP of flatlining economyIn the summer of 2015 a businessman in the Syrian province of Latakia was approached by a powerful security chief, seeking a favour. The official wanted the merchant, an importer of medical supplies, to source large amounts of a drug called fenethylline from abroad. The regime, he said, would readily buy the lot.After an internet search, the merc…