U.S. Reps. French Hill (R-AR) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) last week applauded action by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 29 to advance Rep. Hill’s legislation to end the drug trade and narcotics production and trafficking in Syria.
“I thank my colleagues at the Foreign Affairs Committee for advancing this bill requiring the U.S. government to develop an interagency strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production, trafficking and affiliated networks linked to the Assad regime,” Rep. Hill said.
The committee approved the Countering Assad’s Proliferation Trafficking And Garnering Of Narcotics (CAPTAGON) Act, H.R. 6265, which Rep. Hill sponsored in December 2021 with lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA).
“I am pleased the committee passed the CAPTAGON Act, which requires an interagency strategy to target the Assad regime’s narco-trafficking,” said Rep. McCaul, ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
If enacted, the measure would require the United States government to develop a strategy “to disrupt and dismantle” the Captagon trade and narcotics networks of the terrorist Syrian regime headed by President Bashar al-Assad, according to the text of the bill.
“These drugs not only cripple local populations, they also serve to fuel hostilities and finance the Assad regime and Iran-backed groups in the region,” said Rep. Hill. “The U.S. government must do all it can to disrupt the industrial-level drug production currently taking place in Syria.”
Rep. McCaul noted that the illicit trade of the addictive amphetamine Captagon generates billions of dollars in revenue for the terrorist Assad regime.
“The administration needs to develop and implement a plan to stop production and trafficking of these drugs,” said Rep. McCaul. “The Assad regime’s role in the Captagon trade directly undermines U.S. and international sanctions on the regime, while making the Middle East even more dangerous.”
H.R. 6265 is also under consideration in three other committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.