The captagon trade has emerged as a major transnational challenge in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. Millions of pills continue to flood overland and maritime ports across the Middle East, southern Europe, and even as far as East Asia, pointing to growing production capacity, sophisticated smuggling tactics, and emerging demand markets. There is also growing evidence that actors aligned with the Syrian government, Hezbollah, Iran-backed militias, and others have participated in production and smuggling. These new realities have given rise to new concerns and questions about the captagon trade’s implications for regional law enforcement, healthcare, security, and geopolitics.
The New Lines Institute is pleased to invite you to its virtual conference on the captagon trade, which celebrates the release of New Lines’ newest policy report, “The Captagon Threat,” authored by Caroline Rose and Alexander Söderholm, and formally launches its Power Vacuums Program’s special project on the captagon trade.
Focusing on the captagon trade’s emergence into a major illicit economy and its many implications in the Mediterranean-Persian Gulf zone, the conference will take place on Wednesday, May 25 and feature three panel discussions with distinguished experts and governmental officials.
