Sometimes it comes hidden in a crate of tea. At others it’s disguised to look like a fava bean, or delicately moulded into the shape of a hummus bowl. No matter the method of concealment, for years millions of pills of Captagon, a highly addictive drug from the amphetamine family, have found their way into ports across the Arab world. For authorities in the region the scale of the problem has demanded constant vigilance. Captagon-related busts frequently make headlines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
This week, the sense of urgency spread to the US, where Members of Congress are urging President Joe Biden to increase American support for Middle East allies combatting the Captagon trade. The drug, known to pharmacologists as fenethylline, was developed in the 1960s as a treatment for ADHD and depression. But its addictive nature and negative side effects quickly became known, and the US took steps to ban it in 1981, with most other countries following suit.
Nearly a decade ago, however, the drug gradually re-emerged as an illicit stimulant of choice in the Middle East, where it was first introduced by criminal gangs from South-East Europe. Its manufacture and distribution was swiftly co-opted by an established nexus of militants and drug runners.
The problem is particularly severe in Syria, where civil war has left huge swathes of the country in the hands of corrupt officials and organised crime, as The National highlighted in an in-depth investigation last year. Thomas Pietschmann, an expert at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), warned that the Captagon trade had become a hallmark of business in government-held Syrian territory. The drug is thought to be one of Syria’s largest exports, valued at more than $3 billion a year, giving the government in Damascus little incentive to crack down.
“The problem is,” one Jordanian official told The National last year, “there is no security partner on the [Syrian] side of the Jordanian border.”
Captagon-related busts frequently make headlines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
The drug’s connections to Syrian regime-held areas are the primary impetus for the Captagon Act, a bill introduced by US Congressman French Hill, which was passed in the House of Representatives in September and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
The aim of the Captagon Act, Mr Hill told The National, is “to think through how do we…cut off the funding as a result of Captagon to [the Syrian] regime?”
But the challenges posed by Captagon extend far beyond Syria. The web of middlemen with a hand in the trade features a wide array of terrorist groups.
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Smuggling routes reach deep into Iraq, and sometimes follow tortuous paths that lead to ports in Europe before doubling back to the Middle East. Hezbollah, the militant political party controlling much of Lebanon, is an especially influential player; it has been a force in the regional drug trade since the 1980s.
While America’s sudden attention towards the Middle East’s Captagon crisis is driven largely by its security concerns in Syria, greater efforts on the part of the US, the region’s largest security partner, towards getting to the root of the problem and helping to bring criminal enterprises to justice will be welcome. For Washington’s allies in the Middle East, the problem has always been much more intimate than geopolitics – a matter, first and foremost, of public safety and public health.
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
RESULTS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Company%20Profile
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
