The Italian police have confiscated a massive shipment of 14 metric tonnes or 15.4 US tons of amphetamines, which they claim was produced by ISIS in Syria.
Confiscated drugs
In a statement on July 1, the Guardia di Finanza financial police reported that three containers were tracked down at the port of Salerno, located in southwest Italy. The police found around 84 million pills in the containers, that costs around $1.12 billion.
The pills were placed inside paper cylinders for industrial use. The investigators stated that the drug bust in Italy is the largest drug haul in the whole world, and it is massive in terms of value and quantity. Commander Domenico Napolitano, the head of the financial police for the city of Naples, said that the pills were hidden well so the scanners that they normally use at the port were not able to detect them.
The pills were discovered inside paper cylinders at the port of Salerno. Napolitano said that they were not able to see them but they knew that it was arriving because they have ongoing investigations on the Italian organized crime group named Camorra. He added that the crime group brings the drugs to the country and they take a cut for helping to distribute them.
According to the police statement, the pills had the Captagon logo, which means "drug of Jihad". The police also said that ISIS used the profits that they get through drug trafficking to finance their terrorist activities, according to Forbes.
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Most drugs are produced in Syria, which has now become the producer of amphetamines in the past few years. ISIS can produce massive quantities of drugs and they sell on global markets. The police said that is how the terrorist group raise massive amounts of money to fund their activities.
The drug bust and the investigation were carried out on a decree from the Naples public prosecutor. The police also believe that the drugs were supposed to be distributed in Europe through different crime groups.
Because of the coronavirus lockdown, the production and the distribution of drugs in Europe has stopped.This is why a lot of traffickers with different organized crime groups have turned to Syria.
Drug distribution
The drug is common in the Middle East and it is also used in some countries in the European Union. The EMCDDA stated that some recent media reports have connected the drug to those who are responsible for the terrorist acts in Europe or groups based in the Middle East.
The militants in Syria also take drugs. The police said that both the Syrian militants and ISIS are fighting on which group should get the most profit from the distribution of the drugs.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime or UNODC, the Jihadist fighters also use Captagon as it gives a certain high and a sudden increase of energy.
Back in 2015, UNODC chief Yury Fedotov said at a press conference that the Islamic State and al Nusra Front are believed to be the ones to facilitate the distribution of the chemicals used for the production of the pills. The pills contain amphetamine and other strong chemicals. The Italian police have not made any arrest yet.
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