The captagon trade never fails to surprise with its smuggling methods. The stimulant pill, popular in the Middle East, has been hidden in pomegranates, plastic plates, and flew over borders via drone. A seizure in Iraq, earlier today, may be one of the most interesting cases yet.
In Southern Iraq a “homemade glider” was reportedly “roaming” the skies, authorities began following and eventually shooting at the person using the glider as. The driver then attempted to escape to a neighbouring countries border, likely Kuwait, or Iran. The smuggler then fled, leaving the glider, and is yet to be found. Upon searching the glider one million captagon pills were found, a significant quantity.
In a statement released by the Iraqi Agency of Intelligence and Federal Investigation (AIFI) it is said the smuggler was looking to bring the pills into Iraq. There is no information in regard to where the pills were initially smuggled from. Iraq is often used as a transit route for captagon, produced in Syria, to reach the large consumer markets in the Gulf. Despite this, recent significant busts in Baghdad, far from the Syrian and Saudi border, indicate that Iraq itself may be facing a growing consumer market for captagon. It is unclear whether these pills were destined for Iraq’s consumer market.
