The Houthi rebels has a long history of growing and selling khat, a stimulant popular in Yemen. Now, the Iran-backed terrorists are moving into the illicit captagon business, according to a report published by The National Interest.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government recently seized 1.5 million captagon pills en route to Saudi Arabia from Houthi-controlled territory. Prices in Saudi Arabia reportedly range from $6 to $27 a pill for the amphetamine-like drug. Busts continued throughout July, with Yemeni authorities intercepting tens of thousands more pills in multiple operations.
As captagon labs have become less ubiquitous in Syria, the Houthis are producing the drug in their controlled areas of Yemen themselves. Yemen’s long and relatively porous border with Saudi Arabia gives the Houthis access to a large consumer market for captagon and other drugs. The Houthis can use the proceeds from these sales to acquire missiles and other munitions
Captagon has yet to arrive on American shores, but the United States is not out of reach. Global drug networks connect the Middle East and the West. Earlier this month, Emirati authorities seized 131 kilograms of unidentified narcotics and psychotropic substances trafficked to the United Arab Emirates from Canada through Spain.
Washington was making good progress countering the regional narco-trade in the months leading up to. The Biden administration issued multiple rounds of captagon-related sanctions and released a congressionally mandated strategy to “disrupt and dismantle” Assad-linked narcotics networks. The effort slowed as the war in Gaza raged on, although the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on a handful of captagon traffickers in October 2024.
Now there’s evidence to suggest that Houthi controlled areas in Yemen may become a new center for captagon production. While captagon seizures in Yemen remain a fraction of those in other parts of the Middle East, the Houthis are seeking to increase their market share.