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Fenethylline
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<p>Fenethylline (<a href="/facts/British_Approved_Name/pm1t52SQ">BAN</a>, <a href="/facts/United_States_Adopted_Name/5AFEKGfQ">USAN</a>) or fenetylline (<a href="/facts/International_Nonproprietary_Name/wYL655x6">INN</a>) is a <a href="/facts/Codrug/DTrSpkbA">codrug</a> of <a href="/facts/Amphetamine/yKIpLJ9E">amphetamine</a> and <a href="/facts/Theophylline/qJzjQVB2">theophylline</a> and so a mutual <a href="/facts/Prodrug/cg0GNhH0">prodrug</a> of both. It is also spelled phenethylline; other names for it are amphetaminoethyltheophylline and amfetyline. The drug was marketed for use as a <a href="/facts/Psychostimulant/nmBdAXM5">psychostimulant</a> under the brand names Captagon, Biocapton, and Fitton. The brand name "Captagon" (or in lowercase as "captagon") is often used <a href="/facts/Generic_drug/IF6AXDVX">generically</a> to describe illicitly produced fenethylline. </p><p>Fenethylline is now illegal in most countries; it is produced primarily for illicit use, which takes place mainly in the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a>, with some evidence that it is used by <a href="/facts/Islamism/4u3G2nEf">Islamist</a> militants and <a href="/facts/Islamic_terrorism/aDNpLB1X">terrorists</a>, as stimulants for gunmen. The illicit global market for the drug was estimated in 2023 to be worth approximately <a href="/facts/US%24/naEEDUhC">US$</a> 57 billion. Smuggling of Captagon became Syria's principal export, exceeding the total of all other exports under the <a href="/facts/Assad_regime/7pDXGzq8">Assad regime</a> during the period from 2011 to 2024 of the <a href="/facts/Syrian_Civil_War/UD2gymjC">Syrian Civil War</a> in which it ruled Syria; it was considered to be the world's largest producer of the drug, accounting for about 80% of the global supply. A huge quantity of "Captagon", ready for <a href="/facts/Smuggling/BdPclLAp">clandestine export</a>, was captured by anti-Assad forces that <a href="/facts/Fall_of_Damascus_(2024)/tSejzPX5">took control of Damascus</a> in December 2024. </p>