The Lebanese Army seized approximately 500.000 Captagon pills in Tripoli, northern Lebanon. The pills were hidden in the tire of a truck heading to Turkey and Iraq, local news report.
Captagon is the name of the amphetamine-based drug fenethylline. It’s a popular stimulant among combatants and wealthy partygoers. In the 1960s, it was a treatment for ADHD and depression but was taken off the shelves in the 1980s because of its side effects such as inducing anxiety and paranoia.
The drug is produced in Lebanon and shipped off to countries nearby. This is not the first instance of customs finding the pills intended to be smuggled. Often the number of pills intended to be shipped off to other countries is astronomical, as reported in various attempted cases.
The majority of Captagon pills in the Middle East contain little to none of the drug fenethylline anymore, but a mixture of stimulants varying from caffeine to methamphetamine. The Captagon’s name is mostly used as branding.
Related: New Report Reveals Key Roles Of Lebanon & Syria In The Growing Captagon Trade
