RIYADH: Syrian anti-narcotics forces have arrested one of the country’s most prominent drug traffickers in the southern province of Daraa, seizing thousands of narcotic pills and a cache of weapons as authorities press ahead with an intensified crackdown on the illicit drug trade.
Syria’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said the suspect was arrested during a security operation in the town of Nasib following a period of surveillance and intelligence gathering that identified his location.
The raid resulted in the seizure of 15,960 Captagon pills, 5,560 narcotic pharmaceutical tablets and a quantity of medium-caliber weapons and ammunition, the agency said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA on Friday.
The arrest is the latest in a series of operations launched by Syria’s interim authorities, who have vowed to dismantle the country’s once-thriving narcotics industry and eradicate trafficking networks that flourished under the government of former president Bashar Assad.
Last week, President Ahmad Al-Sharaa described combating drugs as “a national program and a shared responsibility,” saying Syria had inherited a heavy burden of drug production and trafficking from the ousted regime and was pursuing a comprehensive campaign to eliminate the threat.
