Terrorists are Using the Drug Captagon & Our Troops Should Be Concerned
Terrorists are Using the Drug Captagon & Our Troops Should Be Concerned
I first started hearing about Captagon from military members working in the Middle East. During check point searches or during contacts with people from the host country, our troops are coming across a pill in tablet form that appeared home made and made the person "hyper." The problem is that our troops are handling this drug, sometimes without even wearing nitrile gloves, without knowing much about it.
Why We Should Be Concerned About Captagon
Captagon was a drug that is no longer used that had a main ingredient called fenetylline. This drug was used to treat problems like narcolepsy, ADHD and a variety of other ailments where a stimulant could be used. Think of it as pharmaceutical amphetamine and it is being seized by authorities throughout the Middle East, even though there is no more legitimate manufacturing of the drug.
According to the European Monitoring Centre for for Drugs and Drug Addiction,
virtually all the contemporary information available suggests that the tablets seized on the drug market in recent years are not diverted Captagon® tablets but clandestinely manufactured tablets that are marked with a similar logo (see picture below) but do not contain fenetylline. A note of caution here: there has been only limited forensic analysis of seized illicit captagon tablets, therefore the composition of most reported captagon seizures is unknown. However, the information available suggests that amphetamine and often caffeine are the psychoactive substances most likely to be present, although it should also be noted that tablet content appears highly variable.
Troops Need to Protect Themselves
I've written extensively about the need to protect yourself while handling drugs. Since a majority of these pills do not contain fenetylline and are not from a pharmaceutical source, it is imperative that our troops that may come into contact with this drug protect themselves. Most often times pills found by troops contain amphetamine. Often times, these drugs are made in clandestine labs with unknown chemicals that are hazardous to humans being used. We have seen a number of officers being hurt by these chemicals during investigations. I recently testified in front of the US Sentencing Commission in Washington DC on this very subject.
Troops that come into contact with this drug should wear nitrile gloves and an N95 mask at a minimum. A respirator can be used or their protective mask can be used too. The substance should not be tested in the field and should be placed in a heat sealed bag.
Captagon and Terrorism
According to the EMCDDA,
a considerable number of media reports suggest links between captagon and either the war in Syria or terrorist attacks: at times captagon has been referred to ‘the terrorist drug’, ‘jihadi magic potion’, ‘the Daesh drug’ or even ‘the Jihad drug’. It has been suggested in the media and in a few academic articles that captagon has been used by some perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Europe and, more widely, by combatants in jihadist groups that are active in Syria or in the radicalisation of those who have joined jihadist organisations such as IS.
What Our Troops Should Be Doing From Now On
I have received numerous reports of military personnel running across this drug and handling it nonchalantly. This is hazardous to our troops and should cease immediately. Because this drug has unknown ingredients until it is tested at the lab, troops should use proper PPE while handling the drug.
People under the influence of Captagon will exhibit typical CNS Stimulant signs and symptoms. This includes dilated pupils, hyperactivity, elevated body temperature and possibly aggressiveness. The graphic below can be printed and used by troops to help spot people under the influence of this drug.
Training
If your unit needs training in this drug, drug impairment recognition or synthetic drugs like this contact us here.