Bangladesh, June 15 -- In what Syrian officials are calling a landmark step toward ending the countrys status as a global narco-state, the transitional government has announced the dismantling of all known Captagon production facilities. The move comes amid a wider campaign to root out the remnants of a billion-dollar drug empire that flourished under the former regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab, in a televised interview with state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV, declared that the government had “confiscated all production equipment and facilities” used in the manufacture of Captagon, a powerful amphetamine that has ravaged communities across the Middle East and beyond.

“Unfortunately, the realit...