Discovery of vast Syrian drug lab reveals secrets of illicit captagon trade

Dec 13th, 04:05:18

By Timour Azhari

DOUMA, Syria (Reuters) - The industrial-scale drug lab sat just up a hill from a main road on the western edge of Damascus, the city that was the seat of power for the Assad family which long denied any links to the narcotics trade.

President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria was accused by Washington and others of profiteering from the production and sale of the addictive amphetamine-like stimulant commonly known as captagon which became entrenched across the Middle East, from front lines of wars to construction sites and high-end parties.

The annual trade in captagon is worth billions of dollars a year, experts say, and Western governments have linked the illicit trade in Syria to Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad, and the Fourth Division of the Syrian army he commanded.

Maher Assad's whereabouts are not known and Reuters could not reach him for comment on the allegations.

https://app.piqsuite.com/reuters/discovery-of-vast-syrian-drug-lab-reveals-secrets-of-illicit-captagon-trade-2024-12-13-12-28-41

>>4cb307<<

>>b2f644<<

>>c7280d<<

>>823afa<<

>>c3c2c7<<

>>22157791

Such a petty move, it could only come from iBama.

zerohedge @zerohedge

Top Overnight News

A top trade adviser to Donald Trump said that the new administration would not look "fondly" on any attempt by China to manipulate its currency, responding to a Reuters report that authorities there were considering allowing the yuan to weaken next year. Peter Navarro, Trump's incoming senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, said the White House would not interfere with the Treasury Department's biannual review looking in to whether foreign trade partners are manipulating their currencies. RTRS

Trump considers options for preventing Iran from expanding its nuclear program, including the potential for airstrikes (Trump’s team feels Iran is uniquely weakened following events in Lebanon and Syria). WSJ

Trump explores merging bank regulators (FDIC, OCC, and Fed) in an attempt to eliminate duplication and promote efficiency, but any change would require Congressional approval and is likely to be controversial. WSJ

Elon Musk renewed his feud with the SEC, revealing that the agency is investigating Neuralink and may take action over his investments in Twitter. He’s also seeking to turn SpaceX’s Starbase site in Texas into a new city and move the company’s headquarters there. BBG

Broadcom reported EPS/EBITDA upside while overall sales fell slightly short (semiconductor revenue was above expectations) and the guide was fine (the sales outlook was inline while the EBITDA margin forecast is ~250bp higher). Shares spiked 15% during the earnings call as mgmt. delivered a bullish message on AI demand, VMWare accretion, and its relationship w/Apple (the company downplayed the Bloomberg report about it being at risk of displacement in the iPhone). BBG

Insurance stocks are rallying in Europe following bullish 2025 guidance from both Munich Re and Swiss Re. RTRS

UK economic data in Oct falls short of expectations, including GDP, industrial production, and manufacturing production (GDP contracted for the second consecutive month). BBG

Germany’s Bundesbank slashed its growth forecast for the country, warning of another year of economic stagnation and cautioning that a trade war with the US would trigger recession. FT

Trafigura reported a 62% drop in profit as it took $1.1 billion in losses related to alleged employee misconduct in its Mongolian oil business. The company is restating several years of prior accounts and took additional hits on its zinc smelting and retail fuel businesses. BBG

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1867553537896456370

Killing off industries, wholesale, fertilizers in particular. There are too many people, and thus less food, means fewer people. The depopulation efforts morph, and continue, apace.

Ed Conway @EdConwaySky

The Teesside cluster which was once the heart of Britain's chemicals industry is now nearly entirely mothballed.

No fertilisers, few petrochemicals.

True: it was slowly declining for ages. But the implosion in the past 3yrs is something to behold. Yet barely noticed in Whitehall

Quote

David Cole @Worker_Snake

·

Replying to @EdConwaySky

Closure of UK plants to feedstock advantageous countries:-

Ineos - Mitsubishi - Dow - Dupont

Nylon - Perspex - Ethylene Oxide & Glycol - Terephthalic acid & PET

Every UK feed plant into the above is gone or downgraded (for 'other' reasons).

https://twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1867556188805538166

>>823afa<<

>>c7280d<<

>>ecad65<<

>>073438<<

>>c3c2c7<<

>>b2f644<<

>>4cb307<<

Operation ChokePoint 2.0

DogeDesigner @cb_doge

Elon Musk was told by the banks that he must concede to the SEC unlawfully or banks would cease to provide working capital and Tesla would have gone bankrupt immediately.

https://twitter.com/cb_doge/status/1867368006504050958

>>de2639<<

>>ecad65<<

>>b1f563<<

>>b2f644<<

>>823afa<<

>>6efb17<<

How IMF bureaucrats golf at posh DC-area country club — on US taxpayers’ dime

Jet-setting global bureaucrats can join an exclusive five-star country club outside Washington without coughing up a dime — all part of lavish perks that are effectively subsidized by the US government, The Post has learned.

Staffers at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank raking in six-figure, tax-free salaries at both global bodies qualify for free memberships at the Bretton Woods Recreation Center in Maryland, according to documents obtained by The Post.

Stiff initiation fees at the IMF-owned course — which range from $12,000 to $20,000 — are automatically waived for all employees on the payroll of the two institutions, according to the documents, which are not in the public domain.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/business/how-imf-bureaucrats-golf-at-posh-dc-area-country-club-on-us-taxpayers-dime/

Soooo,Squeaky's a Captagon Freak…..splains much for a Klownie.

FBI searches Minnesota autism service providers in connection with fraud investigation

Investigators say they have found "substantial evidence that many of these companies have been submitting fraudulent claims for EIDBI services that were not actually provided or that were not covered by the EIDBI program."

https://alphanews.org/fbi-searches-minnesota-autism-service-providers-in-connection-with-fraud-investigation/

GASP! Fraud in a state run "program"? The deuce you say!

https://educationdojo.com/quizzes/2024/12/bill-clinton-trivia-quiz/