ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi interior ministry has announced the dismantling of “one of the largest Captagon manufacturing factories in the Middle East” in eastern Lebanon, as part of a joint intelligence operation with Lebanese authorities.
In a statement released Monday evening, the ministry said that “close security and intelligence cooperation between Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics Affairs and Lebanon’s General Directorate of State Security” resulted in “the discovery and dismantling of one of the largest Captagon manufacturing facilities in Lebanon’s Bekaa region,” which runs along a significant portion of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Describing the operation as “the most powerful blow against Captagon networks in the Middle East,” the ministry emphasized that the success was made possible by “precise intelligence provided by Iraqi agencies to their Lebanese counterparts.” This led to a major operation by the Lebanese army in mid-July 2025, during which “the factory was seized and the production and distribution of large quantities of narcotic drugs were thwarted.”
Iraq’s interior ministry has released footage of what it says is “one of the largest Captagon manufacturing factories in the Middle East,” located in eastern Lebanon. The facility was dismantled as part of a joint intelligence operation between Iraqi and Lebanese authorities. pic.twitter.com/KIwC0n2gxB
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) August 19, 2025
In a formal letter addressed to the Iraqi interior ministry, Lebanon’s Directorate General of State Security praised “the intelligence collaboration” with Iraq as reflecting “the strength of the relationship between our two brotherly countries and highlighting Iraq’s leading role in combating cross-border threats - foremost among them, the drug scourge, which poses a serious danger to Arab societal security.”
Regional threat
The production and trafficking of Captagon - a powerful amphetamine - is a decades-old concern across the Middle East, including in Iraq, where consumption and smuggling cases have risen sharply in recent years.
Syria, under the regime of the now-deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, was widely recognized as a primary source of Captagon production and distribution. The trade became a political and economic tool for the Assad regime, with many analysts pointing to Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother, as a key figure behind the industry.
Numerous factories were established in areas along the Lebanese-Syrian border, especially in the Bekaa region, where rugged terrain, long-standing clan-based networks, and weak state control have turned the region into a smuggling hotbed. The area facilitates the trafficking of goods, fuel, weapons, people, and particularly narcotics like Captagon.
The loosely demarcated and highly porous nature of the border, coupled with deep familial and economic ties between border communities, further enables the illicit drug trade.
Additionally, the presence of powerful non-state actors - most notably the Hezbollah movement - complicates law enforcement efforts. With its own supply routes and logistical infrastructure, Hezbollah has long been accused of facilitating or turning a blind eye to drug smuggling, undermining the efforts of both Lebanese and Syrian state security forces.
Observers believe that the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and the weakening of Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon could create conditions for a broader crackdown on the Captagon trade and other illicit cross-border activities.
Baghdad’s drug war
In recent months, Iraqi authorities have stepped up their fight against drug trafficking. The country, once mostly a transit route, has increasingly become a destination for narcotics - prompting alarm among officials and the public.
In early April, Baghdad's interior ministry reported foiling an attempt to smuggle 400,000 Captagon pills across the Euphrates from Syria into Iraqi territory. The narcotics were being smuggled from Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, according to the statement.
In mid-March, the ministry had announced the seizure of a truck packed with some 1,100 kilograms of Captagon pills coming from Syria towards Iraq through Turkey. That same month, Iraq’s narcotics control directorate reported that Baghdad has seized some 1.75 tons of illicit substances since the beginning of 2025 and made 2,000 arrests in the process.
In 2024, the narcotics directorate revealed in December that a total of six tons and 183 kilograms of illicit drugs were seized that year, with 14,483 suspects arrested. Among these, 144 individuals have been sentenced to death for international drug smuggling, while 454 local dealers were sentenced to life in prison - a term of 20 years.
Major General Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security Media Cell, told Rudaw in February that drug trafficking is “the most widespread crime” in Iraq, highlighting that the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are working jointly and with regional neighbours to address the issue.
According to Maan, “drugs are almost exclusively imported” into Iraq and that there have been “failed attempts” to manufacture crystal methamphetamine and Captagon - the most commonly used types of psychotropic substances - within the country.
