Damascus. General Directorate of Ports in the Syrian coastal province of Latakia seized about two tons of narcotics near the beach of Cape of Ras al-Bassit, local media reported, as cited by Prensa Latina.

The confiscated drugs, which was floating in the sea in leather bags, consisted of more than 800 kilograms of hashish paste and nearly six million tablets of Captagon, the drug of choice by the members of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS).

The general director of Ports of Latakia, Maitham al-Yousuf, told reporters that the stash was spotted on Saturday by a patrol that ran along the beach, about 400 kilometers northwest of the capital.

For his part, Latakia Governor Ibrahim Khader al-Salem accused the countries that sponsor terrorism against Syria of being responsible for the drug.

“It is a desperate attempt at destabilizing national security and sabotaging the minds of young people by preventing them from exercising their normal life and trying to continue their education,” said the governor.

According to experts, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began production of Captagon in 2011 in a laboratory in Bulgaria and it is now manufactured elsewhere in the world.

Part of the profits from the illegal trade in Captagon, experts say, is used to finance armed extremist groups that are trying to overthrow the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad.

Copyright Prensa Latina 2015