Oman seizes 6 million pills in Captagon bust with Saudi Arabia

DUBAI — Oman narcotics authorities apprehended an international drug smuggling network and seized 6 million Captagon pills with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia, according to an announcement Thursday by Oman Police. 

Captagon is a synthetic stimulant illegally sold across the Arabian Peninsula. There is a multibillion-dollar black market for Captagon, which in recent years has been regionally manufactured along the Syrian-Lebanon border, according to the Washington-based Arab Center. The highly addictive substance travels through Jordan to reach the Gulf states, where it has been a drug of choice among disenfranchised youth, particularly in Saudi Arabia. 

What happened: The General Administration for Combating Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, a division of the Royal Oman Police, arrested smugglers looking to reexport 6 million Captagon pills through land and sea ports, stated Oman authorities on Wednesday via Twitter. 

The arrests came after an operation coordinated with Saudi Arabia found the 6 million Captagon tablets stored in warehouses and amid preparations for reexport within cargo trucks and other vehicles. 

The number of suspects and the location of the arrests were not disclosed. A video shared by the Royal Oman Police on Twitter shows agents unloading what appears to be white cardboard boxes filled with bags of Captagon tablets encased in moss-colored bricks.

Why it matters: The motivation to readmit Syria back into the Arab League, during the group's annual summit held in May this year in Jeddah, after 12 years is seen as a matter of national security for certain member countries and one that overlaps with the Captagon drug smuggling crisis. 

Robert Ford, a veteran US diplomat and the last US ambassador to Syria, told Al-Monitor during the summit that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will likely make various promises, such as strengthening security forces to block the drug trade if his country receives financial support. 

“In a sense, Syria is using [halting the Captagon trade] as leverage against the Gulf states,” said Ford, who believes that if Assad realizes he is not getting the expected aid, the drug business will ramp up once again.

Large-scale seizures of Captagon are common but have done little to weaken the multibillion-dollar industry, according to the Arab Center, because state authorities tend to pursue the supply side of the issue without much attention to the demand.

The think tank stated that disaffected young people facing high unemployment and few outlets to relieve their frustrations have gravitated toward the drug as a coping mechanism, which offers a temporary feeling of well-being.

Background:  Amphetamine-type stimulants like Captagon speed up messages between the brain and the body, and are used to treat conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. They are highly addictive and dangerous when abused.

In May, Saudi authorities seized more than 12.7 million tablets of amphetamines hidden in a shipment of pomegranates at the Jeddah Islamic port.