ALEPPO, Syria — The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions have stepped up their security operations in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo against drug trafficking networks, arresting several dealers and seizing large quantities of narcotics.

On Oct. 12, the FSA-affiliated Syrian Liberation Front announced that it had arrested several drug dealers and seized about half a million Captagon pills. On Twitter, the front said that in coordination with the military police, its security apparatus had launched a crackdown on drug dealers in the city of al-Bab in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo and destroyed the drugs.

The Syrian Liberation Front tweeted Oct. 1, “The security apparatus, in coordination with the military police, has cracked down on drug dealers in the Jindires area in the countryside of Afrin. Mohammed Youssef and Mohammed Darmoush have been arrested in possession of 10,000 Captagon pills, a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition.”

Despite the efforts of the opposition’s security institutions and the FSA factions to stop the drug trade in opposition-controlled areas of the Aleppo countryside, there has been a marked increase in the number of users of narcotic pills and hashish.