Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of illegal smuggling of Captagon (fenethylline) in the Levant.

The production and smuggling of captagon in the Levant is worth upwards of $USD 5.7billion. The Syrian regime bears particular responsibility. There are at least 15 large-scale production sites in regime-held areas of Syria, and smaller factories line the Syria/Lebanon border. Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia face extensive security and health threats due to captagon. Smuggling efforts are becoming more technologically advanced and more violent, with increasing clashes along the Jordanian border. Beyond the region, Italy seized 84 million pills in 2020. The UK is assisting regional partners to combat this trade, which directly profits Asad and his backers, including Hezbollah.