The report is based on a compilation of information collected from Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania in response to a questionnaire. Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (as participants in EMPACT) declared that they had no material information on captagon. The positive responses were supplemented and elaborated by contributions provided by those countries (apart from France) at an expert meeting held at the EMCDDA in Lisbon in October 2022. The historical background is based on work already published by the EMCDDA. France provided a written submission containing supplementary information collected from the network of French Internal Security Attachés.

Key findings
• There is no suggestion that there are any significant user markets for captagon tablets in the European Union (EU).
• There is evidence of the production of captagon tablets in the EU, mainly in the Netherlands, where large quantities can be produced on demand.
• A captagon tablet typically contains about 32 milligrams of amphetamine sulfate, meaning that approximately 32 kilograms of pure amphetamine sulfate is used to manufacture 1 million captagon tablets.
• EU Member States are involved mainly as transhipment points between captagon-producing countries outside the EU and destination markets in and around the Arabian Peninsula. This process may involve a direct rerouting of the consignment, or sending the load after it has been unloaded and repacked in the EU.
• Syrian and Lebanese individuals (by nationality or birth) have been noted to be involved in many of the large cases and investigations. Some of these organisers reside in the EU, while others make frequent visits to the region.
• Apart from organising captagon shipments, such criminal groups have also been involved in trafficking cannabis resin and, less frequently, herbal cannabis and cocaine.
• Aside from the ‘on demand’ production of captagon in the Netherlands, drug-related criminal networks in the EU do not appear to get involved in the captagon trade.