Iraq-Lebanon security co-operation led to raid on major Captagon lab

Security and intelligence co-operation between Baghdad and Beirut led to the dismantling of one of the biggest Captagon production facilities in the Middle East, the Iraqi Interior Ministry has revealed.

In mid-July, Lebanon's army announced the discovery of a major Captagon factory in Yammouneh, about 25km from the city of Baalbek, after finding a 300-metre tunnel used to deliver and store materials for the lab.

It was “one of the largest labs” to be raided, the military said at the time. The army added that it seized about 10 tonnes of equipment and machinery and destroyed a “large quantity of Captagon pills, crystal meth and various narcotics”. It published footage showing the raid, a bulldozer filling in the tunnel and the burning of some of the material seized.

No arrests had been made and the Lebanese security forces launched a campaign to find the people who operated the factory. At the time, Beirut did not mention any security co-operation with Baghdad.

In a statement issued late on Monday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said the country's Directorate of Narcotics Affairs had provided “precise intelligence” to its Lebanese counterparts at the General Directorate of State Security.

It described the operation as a “qualitative achievement” and the “strongest blow” against Captagon networks in the Middle East.

Captagon – a mix of amphetamines known as “poor man’s cocaine” – is one of the most popular recreational drugs among young people in the Middle East. Syria has been the main manufacturing source in the region.

As Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, millions of Captagon pills were produced under Bashar Al Assad’s regime and shipped to neighbouring countries, accounting for 80 per cent of world production, according to the New Lines Institute, a Washington think tank. The global Captagon market is worth about $10 billion a year.

Despite many tonnes of drugs being seized, the trade has fuelled addiction in countries such as Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Captagon was a vital source of cash for the heavily sanctioned Assad government. In 2021, the regime is estimated to have made more than $5 billion from the sale of the drug, the New Lines Institute said.

In recent months, Iraq has increased co-operation with countries in the region, mainly Syria, to pursue and dismantle drug networks. Baghdad organises an annual regional meeting to enhance co-ordination on this issue.

Last month, Iraqi counter-narcotics forces seized more than 1.35 million Captagon pills in Damascus, in a rare and significant cross-border operation, the Interior Ministry announced.

In February, Baghdad announced the confiscation of an estimated 1.1 tonnes of Captagon pills hidden inside a lorry that entered Iraq from Syria through Turkey, the first major bust since the toppling of Mr Al Assad's regime in December.

The haul was monitored and intercepted with the assistance of “important information” provided by Saudi Arabia's drug enforcement agency, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig Muqdad Meri said at the time.