Italy seizes IS-made drugs worth €1 billion

ROME: Italian police said yesterday they had seized a 14-tonne haul of amphetamines made by the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, calling it the biggest seizure of such drugs in the world.

The drug, in the form of around 84 million Captagon tablets hidden inside industrial goods within containers, was worth €1 billion (RM4.8 billion), and intended to be sold on the European market “to finance terrorism”, the finance police of Naples said in a statement.

“We know that the IS finances its terrorist activities mainly by trafficking drugs made in Syria which in the past few years has become the world’s largest producer of amphetamines.“

Police said three suspect containers had arrived at the port of Salerno, just south of Naples, containing large cylindrical paper rolls for industrial use as well as industrial machinery.

Cutting open the paper rolls and metal gearwheels with chainsaws, police found them filled with tablets.

“This is the largest seizure of amphetamines in the world,“police said.

Captagon, a brand name, was originally for medical use but illegal versions have been widely used by IS fighters in combat.

Citing the US Drug Enforcement Administration, police said IS “makes extensive use of it in all territories over which it exerts influence and where it controls the drug trade”.

“Once plants are established, it is easy for IS to produce large quantities also for the world market for synthetic drugs, in order to quickly accumulate substantial funding.“– AFP