(Illustrative photo of Captagon pills by Joseph Eid/AFP)
A "smuggling" tunnel connecting Syrian and Lebanese territories was discovered by the Syrian army in Hosh al-Sayed Ali, a border village straddling the two countries, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
According to the Defense Ministry, this tunnel was found near Hosh al-Sayed Ali, west of the major city of Homs. It was "used for smuggling purposes by Lebanese militias and has been closed."
This announcement came as Syrian border guards said they had foiled an "attempt to smuggle a quantity of Captagon tablets from Lebanon" near the border. The operation took place in the Jouroud Assal al-Ward area, along the border, about a hundred kilometers from Hosh al-Sayed Ali, according to SANA. It led to "an exchange of gunfire with smugglers who fled."
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on Oct. 8, 2024, Damascus has regularly announced seizures of Captagon and smuggled weapons at the border with Lebanon. Captagon, an illegal synthetic amphetamine, became Syria's main export during the civil war that broke out in 2011, constituting a major source of funding for the former deposed regime, which had turned the country into a narco-state.
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