A cheap, illegal amphetamine called captagon is raising alarm around the globe after circulating for years in the Middle East. The US and its allies say much of the world’s supply of captagon is made in Syria–and that the government of President Bashar Al-Assad is using captagon sales abroad to cushion the financial blow of Western sanctions on Syria.

Bloomberg’s Sam Dagher and Samy Adghirni join this episode to describe captagon’s rise from 1960s German pharmaceutical to pervasive street drug, and why European officials are so concerned about a possible influx within their borders. 

Caroline Rose, Director of the Captagon Trade Project at the New Lines Institute explains how the US is responding to the spread of captagon.

Read more: ‘Poor Man’s Cocaine’ Costing $3 a Pill Threatens to Proliferate

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