{"id":52230,"date":"2018-06-18T18:38:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T18:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/18\/us-led-coalition-destroys-islamic-state-narcotics-cache-including-300000-so-called-jihadi-pills\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:56:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:56:03","slug":"us-led-coalition-destroys-islamic-state-narcotics-cache-including-300000-so-called-jihadi-pills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/18\/us-led-coalition-destroys-islamic-state-narcotics-cache-including-300000-so-called-jihadi-pills\/","title":{"rendered":"US-led coalition destroys Islamic State narcotics cache \u2014 including 300,000 so-called \u2018Jihadi pills\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The international coalition<\/a> to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria <\/a>destroyed a large drug cache on June 12 that was previously controlled by the militant group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drugs were estimated to have a black market value of roughly $1.4 million, according to a press release from Operation Inherent Resolve<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite [ISIS\u2019] facade of Islamic purity, its criminal terrorists are known drug users and traffickers,\u201d the coalition said in its press release. \u201cThe cache included more than 300,000 pills of Captagon, an illegal drug frequently trafficked and used by [ISIS] members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-based drug that is banned in many countries. The drug keeps its user awake and alert for long periods of time and can help dull pain. The drug\u2019s main ingredient is fenethylline, a chemical combination of amphetamine and theophylline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informally, the drug is sometimes referred to as the \u201cJihadi pill,\u201d due to its reported popularity among ISIS militants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one instance, 122 Chinese-made machine guns were found in an ISIS cache south of Mosul, Iraq. Each weapon was affixed with one to three pouches filled with a powder that presumptive analysis revealed was a \u201cperformance enhancing amphetamine,\u201d according to Conflict Armament Research, a U.K.-based investigative organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those findings were documented in a report published in December called \u201cWeapons of the Islamic State: A three-year investigation in Iraq and Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An image from a video posted on Twitter by the U.S.-allied partner force Maghawir al-Thowra shows a haul of the amphetamine-type narcotics, seized from ISIS near al-Tanf, Syria. (Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most recent narcotics cache was seized by a local partner force known as the Maghawir al-Thawra, or Commandos of the Revolution. The fighters were conducting counter-ISIS operations in southern Syria within a 55-kilometer deconfliction zone near Al Tanf on May 31. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partner forces actively patrol the Al Tanf deconfliciton zone in order to disrupt and prevent ISIS operations in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime conducted a study<\/a> in November 2016 documenting the amphetamine phenomenon among ISIS militants.
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