Captagon smuggler welcomed by regime in Damascus despite crackdown

A Syrian smuggler under western sanctions for dealing with the illegal drug Captagon has met with the self-declared administration in Syria on at least two occasions.

Imad Abu Zureiq, a militia leader from Daraa, met Syria’s President Ahmed Al Shara at the Presidential Palace in Damascus in December, The National can reveal. He was also pictured last week meeting the province’s new governor.

A crackdown on Captagon was declared a priority by the new authorities but the political rehabilitation of Abu Zureiq has raised concerns about how effectively the leadership is policing the trade.

Captagon is a highly addictive and cheap amphetamine whose production was long linked to associates and family members of ousted dictator Bashar Al Assad. Since December, Syria's new authorities have located and exposed facilities in areas formerly held by the regime.

But fears are still high that smugglers will find new ways to pump the drug into Gulf countries – the drugs main market – sowing violence and suffering along the way as they establish new strongholds.

Abu Zureiq is believed to control the border crossing into Jordan from his native town of Nassib, and was placed on the sanctions list for Captagon smuggling in support of the Assad regime in 2023. He was among the militia leaders to be invited to Damascus after Assad fled in December, as Mr Al Shara sought to unify and absorb Syria’s armed groups into a national army.

He was also one of the leaders of Nassib to visit Daraa Governor Anwar Al Zobi last week “to congratulate him on his new appointment”, according to a social media announcement from the governor’s office.

It is not known whether Abu Zureiq is still involved in Captagon smuggling and what his relationship to the new administration is. But his apparent control of the Nassib crossing would make him a player whether or not Mr Al Shara's efforts to curb the trade will succeed.

“Overall, the production will shrink after the downfall of the Assad regime. But it might increase again later if conditions allow,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, of Carnegie Middle East whose report on Captagon smuggling in Lebanon was published this month.

The Syrian Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.

'Tough guy' rebel

Abu Zureiq, a former school sports teacher who took up arms after the Syrian revolution, is part of the latest generation of power brokers in southern Syria, a volatile region where warlords rule unchecked, seeking opportunity over political ideals.

He is celebrated in Nassib for his sponsorship of a local youth football team – but many also viewed him as a brutal agent of the Assad regime and accuse him of killings and kidnappings. He lost an arm to the violence and uses a prosthetic limb.

Abu Zureiq came from a poor family and initially joined the forces opposing Mr Al Assad in 2011. From there, he rose to become the security chief for the local Yarmouk Army, which was affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.

“These were younger, tough guys who picked up weapons during the revolution. They gained legitimacy fighting the regime,” said Armenak Tokmajyan, of the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.

The war would dramatically alter the social dynamics of these villages. “They eventually sidelined the traditional authorities such as sheikhs, local notables and school teachers. They changed the set up and became the local power brokers.”

But when the Assad regime took control of Daraa in 2018, Abu Zureiq switched sides. He fled briefly to Jordan, returning after the Russian-brokered reconciliation agreement, where he ran an armed group that reported to the Syrian security services.

His knowledge of the border region, his family connections in Jordan, and the good standing he created for himself in Nassib allowed him to control the flow of goods there – from tomatoes to cigarettes and allegedly, Captagon.

“You need a local who knows the networks and the terrain, allies himself with people on the other side of the border, and facilitates the movement of goods,” Mr Tokmajyan said.

He was part of the Eighth Brigade led by Ahmad Al Awada in Daraa that was integrated into the Syrian Army’s Russian-sponsored Fifth Corps.

The impenetrable South

Mr Al Shara has every incentive to want to end the Captagon trade from Syria, experts say. This would build the confidence needed to lift western sanctions on Syria. It is also crucial to Mr Al Shara’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, which has emerged as his most powerful ally, but also is adamant on ending the narcotics crisis on its soil.

But he faces challenges unifying armed groups in Southern Syria. Earlier this year, he was negotiating the terms of Mr Al Awda’s position. Riots along the border in January after the new authorities imposed stricter controls are believed to have been instigated by Abu Zureiq.

Israel's military campaign against old regime bases in southern Syria could explain Mr Al Shara's outreach to Abu Zureiq.

“Al Shara needs to decrease the credibility of the Israeli claims that part of the population in the South does not want to be governed by Islamists,” said Mr Tokmajyan.

But whether smugglers are willing to trade in their networks for political appointments in the new Syria remains unclear. “Would they risk trying to find connections with the new regime and continue exporting Captagon through their old networks?” he added.

Entrenched networks

Despite the Syrian administration’s stated efforts, there are visible signs of the trade continuing.

The Jordanian border police were on high alert, as the price of drug had dropped in recent weeks, having soared to $100 in the weeks after Mr Al Assad's fled, according to Mr Hage Ali of Carnegie Middle East. “This suggests an increase in production,” he said.

A key player in the trade was Mr Al Assad’s allies the militia Hezbollah, who continue to operate in Lebanon.

Mr Hage Ali's report last week found that though Hezbollah had been weakened by the recent war with Israel, the trade could be revived without the proper border or economic policies in place.

“You have to have a security solution which has to be part of a bouquet of solutions, including economic,” he said. “It would require a measure of international support.”

Lebanese officials seized 30 million tablets earlier this year, a source told The National. The Lebanese authorities did not report the seizure and did not respond to request for comment.

Clashes on the Syrian-Lebanese border between the Syrian army and Hezbollah last were a sign that smugglers were trying to maintain the status quo they held along the unmarked frontier during Mr Al Assad's rule, Mr Hage Ali said.

Over the past weeks, authorities on both sides of the nearly 400-kilometre border have been closing smuggling routes.

The two countries signed a demarcation agreement in Riyadh on Friday, to boost co-ordination and security along the border.

France also offered to “facilitate” the agreement, as well as providing surveillance and monitoring support to “fight against traffickers and the movement of arms”, at a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The UK lifted sanctions on Syria this month, but continues to impose those on 11 people involved in Captagon smuggling, including Abu Zureiq. It did not comment directly on his possible involvement in the new administration.

“We welcome the efforts of regional authorities to combat smuggling of Captagon, which enriched the former Assad regime, fuels regional instability, and generates vast revenue for criminal gangs and armed groups in Syria and across the region,” a representative for Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said.