7am Inside the drug factories that funded the Assad regime
Dec 18, 2024
Heidi Pett, a journalist reporting from Damascus, shares her insights on Syria's transformation following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. She captures the bittersweet joy of Syrians celebrating newfound freedom, intertwined with the sorrow of those searching for missing loved ones. Pett reveals the dark legacy of the Assad regime, including the troubling drug trade centered around Captagon. As new power dynamics emerge, she discusses the challenges faced by local factions and the cautious optimism among the populace navigating an uncertain future.
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Desperate Search for Missing Loved Ones
- People are desperately searching for missing loved ones in Syria's prisons.
- One woman hopes to find her son, clutching onto any last piece of information about his fate.
Collective Grief and Relief
- Many Syrians are searching for closure without bodies to bury.
- A funeral for a famous activist became a symbolic funeral for all the missing, a moment of collective grief and relief.
Syria's Captagon Production
- Syria operated as a narco-state, producing and exporting Captagon.
- Heidi Pett visited a former potato chip factory repurposed for drug production, revealing methods of disguising and transporting the pills.