NEW: In 2018, Greek authorities stopped a Syrian ship bound for Libya. Stashed aboard was "Captagon," a speed-like drug popular in the Middle East.
With @irpinvestigates, we reveal key details about this cargo, including its ties to organized crime. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
With @irpinvestigates, we reveal key details about this cargo, including its ties to organized crime. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…
Over the past decade, Syria has become the region’s preeminent supplier of Captagon, the former brand name for a stimulant banned in the 1980s. 2/ 
The cash-strapped Syrian government has been accused of profiting from the robust trade. Huge amounts of the product are known to flow through the Assad family fiefdom of Latakia. 3/
The owner of the Noka, the ship at the center of today’s investigation, was previously convicted of smuggling cars and yachts in Italy and has ties to a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Reporters found that one of his companies was used to purchase the vessel. 4/
Reporters found that one of his companies was used to purchase the vessel. 4/
Beyond Syria, the trade is flourishing across the wider region. In one of the latest busts in Saudi Arabia, 5.3m Captagon pills were found hidden in a shipment of pomegranates sent from Lebanon. 5/
OCCRP and IRPIMedia, our Italian member center, used court documents, company registration data, and ship tracking data, to uncover previously unreported details about this illicit trade.
You can read its version of this story in Italian here 👇 6/
irpimedia.irpi.eu/piratidelmedit…
You can read its version of this story in Italian here 👇 6/
irpimedia.irpi.eu/piratidelmedit…
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