LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Rebel fighters who are now part of Syria's new de facto government have been seizing and burning large shipments of Captagon. That's the addictive amphetamine drug that was mass-produced and sold by the old ousted regime. Syria's new rulers want to show they're making a clean break with the past. NPR's Emily Feng followed along as one batch was destroyed.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: It was mid-afternoon on a dreary Damascus day when we suddenly got a call. Fighters with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS - the rebels that toppled the former regime - were about to destroy several tons of Captagon and other drugs.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR ENGINE RUNNING)
FENG: So we hop in the car and head towards the plumes of heavy black smoke billowing from the dry hills around the city.
That's a lot of smoke.
NPR producer Jawad Rizkallah explains HTS soldiers had chosen a symbolic site to destroy these drugs.
JAWAD RIZKALLAH, BYLINE: This is near the headquarters of the 4th Division.
FENG: The 4th Armored Division, a branch of Syria's military overseen by the younger brother of Bashar al-Assad, the country's ousted dictator - he was sanctioned by the U.S. for his ties in producing and smuggling Captagon and other illicit drugs. Now the new rulers of Syria want to destroy it all on this barren hilltop right in view of the 4h Division headquarters.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Don't breathe.
FENG: Try not to breathe.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOORS CLOSING)
FENG: We see bright orange flames coming out of a pit, and nearby, two tall piles of plastic sacks of some kind of white powder beginning to catch fire. They fill the air with putrid smoke. Ussama Al-Dami is an anti-narcotics officer with the HTS government.
USSAMA AL-DAMI: (Through interpreter) This is the raw material that is used to produce Captagon.
FENG: The precursors for Captagon.
He says he discovered this batch of Captagon and precursors during a raid that very day in a factory linked to the Fourth Division. The factory's owner had already fled Syria.
AL-DAMI: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: Al-Dami says he's burning these amphetamines because they're poison. Their trade turned Syria into a narco state, bringing in billions of dollars in annual revenue for the former regime. In the last month, Al-Dami says he has personally overseen the destruction of 60 tons of illicit drugs seized from former regime entities. Nearby, more HTS soldiers are dismantling a pile of auto parts.
But he's taking it open.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLINKING)
FENG: And inside are the pills.
They are pills of Captagon and tens of thousands of tabs of an expired painkiller hidden in these auto parts to smuggle them out of Syria. Muhammad Noor is another HTS fighter. He motions us to the biggest bonfire of all.
So behind me, you can see just this open fire pit where they've thrown in the barrels of Captagon and set it on fire to destroy it. It's been going for a while now, so it's just mostly ash.
The remains of dozens of blue barrels once full of Captagon.
MUHAMMAD NOOR: (Non-English language spoken).
FENG: Noor says they've been burning for nearly a week now. He says even he's been a little surprised at how much they found. He also seems a little surprised at how quickly everything has changed. Just a few weeks ago, he was fighting the Assad regime. Now on a high ridge overlooking Damascus, he is destroying the drug that financed it. First, he has to keep this fire going, and it's going to be burning for a long, long time. Emily Feng, NPR 瓜神app, Damascus.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAFLOV'S "TEARDROPS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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