Bangladesh, Dec. 23 -- For more than a decade, Syria stood at the center of one of the worlds most lucrative illicit drug trades. Captagon-a powerful amphetamine-like synthetic stimulant-became not only a regional scourge but also a financial lifeline for the Assad regime as war, sanctions, and economic collapse hollowed out the formal economy. Now, according to a new research brief from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), that entrenched system has been dramatically disrupted following the fall of Bashar al-Assads government in December 2024.

The UNODC assessment marks the most comprehensive international acknowledgment yet that Syrias role as a global narco-hub has fundamentally changed. The report states that large-s...