Captagon prices surge after Assad’s fall as methamphetamine use expands – UN
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its 2026 World Drug Report, released on Friday, that the captagon market experienced significant disruption following the fall of the al-Assad regime, leading to a sharp increase in the price of captagon tablets in parts of the Middle East and beyond.
According to the report, the market disruption has caused the price of a single captagon tablet to double in some areas, raising concerns that users may increasingly turn to methamphetamine as an alternative, whose consumption has been rising across the region.
The report noted that the emergence of new trafficking routes and the gradual expansion of methamphetamine production have broadened the drug’s markets into new regions, particularly the Near East, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Europe.
UNODC said global methamphetamine seizures have increased by an average of 13 percent annually, driven largely by record confiscations in East and Southeast Asia.
While Myanmar remains the primary source of methamphetamine production, the report said growing global demand has attracted additional suppliers from North America, West Africa, Southern Africa, and Southwest Asia.
The report also highlighted that methamphetamine produced in North America is now being trafficked across the Pacific to countries along the western Pacific Rim, contributing to increased trafficking and consumption in the Pacific Islands.