In Feb 2025, New Lines Institute published a report by Karam Shaar, Roaa Obeid & Caroline Rose on how the Assad regime lowered the supply of captagon in 2024 to extract political gains—while keeping full control over the entire supply chain in the country.
The regime scaled back smuggling to other countries, not production. It avoided raiding key labs, intercepted select shipments, and distanced itself from top traffickers—crafting a false narrative of cooperation with international efforts.