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Turkish-backed Syrian groups pursue drug operations in Aleppo

The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army is reportedly cracking down on drug dealers in the Aleppo countryside.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
Syrian police show seized Captagon pills at the Drug Enforcement Administration in the capital Damascus on Jan. 4, 2016. — LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

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.

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