British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Friday that most of the chemicals discovered at a Captagon production facility in Douma, a suburb of Damascus previously controlled by the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, were of British origin.

The report revealed that substances such as chloroform, formaldehyde solution, hydrochloric acid, petroleum ether, and ethyl acetate were found in brown containers produced by the British chemical company "Surechem" based in Suffolk, UK.

In a statement, the company confirmed that it had exported the listed chemicals to Syria in 2010 as part of its "last shipment to the country before the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011 and subsequent sanctions were imposed."

The company stated that the purpose of the exports was to supply chemicals for "general laboratory use."

Evidence Destruction

The Telegraph cited sources from opposition factions, stating that the factory was on fire when it was discovered. Workers allegedly set it ablaze before fleeing. However, opposition fighters managed to extinguish the fire before all the evidence was destroyed.

According to these sources, fighters from the military operations room found Captagon pills hidden inside engines, furniture pieces, artificial fruits, and electrical transformers, all prepared for shipping.

In one of the factory’s rooms, fighters discovered hundreds of business cards linked to former government official Amer Taysir Kheiti, who had long been suspected of being a key figure in Syria’s Captagon trade. His ties with Maher al-Assad, the ousted president’s brother and commander of the Fourth Division of the Syrian army, further raised suspicions about his involvement.

Seized Factory

The Telegraph also reported on an interview with the factory's former owner, who stated that the facility was originally used to produce potato chips. However, after the Syrian regime's forces recaptured Douma in 2018, he fled the city, leaving the factory behind.

The Political and Economic Networks Observatory, which monitors Captagon trafficking in the Arab world, revealed that the Assad regime earned an average of $2.4 billion annually from the Captagon trade between 2020 and 2022. This amount is equivalent to roughly a quarter of Syria’s gross domestic product (GDP).

According to observers, Syria has become a global leader in Captagon production, with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) describing it as the world's primary producer of the drug. It is estimated that Syria was responsible for producing 80% of the world’s Captagon supply, providing significant financial support to the Assad regime.