Captagon trade: How Syria became a narco-state Captagon is a synthetic drug that has turned Syria into a narco-state. The illicit industry behind this amphetamine is estimated to be worth billions of dollars, with over 400 million tablets seized in the Middle East in 2021. So who is profiting from this trafficking? Where is the drug produced? How is it flooding the region and the rest of the world? We take a closer look at how captagon trafficking has reached the highest levels of the Syrian state.