DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria said Friday that authorities had seized some three million pills of the illicit stimulant captagon after clashes with a drug trafficking network near the Lebanese border.

Authorities observed the network “coming from Lebanon into Syrian territory” via illegal border crossings in the Jarajir area in the northern Damascus countryside, according to a statement released by the interior ministry.

Syrian forces set up a roadside ambush that “led to clashes between the security forces and members of the cell,” some of whom abandoned their vehicle and fled, the statement said.

“Around three million pills of the drug captagon were seized in addition to 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of hashish,” the statement said, adding that authorities would not allow Syrian territory “to be a passage or haven for drug smuggling.”

Lebanon and Syria share a porous, 330-kilometer (205-mile) border that is notorious for smuggling.

Captagon, which is also produced in Lebanon, became Syria’s largest export during Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011.

The drug turned Syria into the world’s largest narco state. It became by far Syria’s biggest export, dwarfing all its legal exports put together, according to estimates drawn from official data by AFP during a 2022 investigation.

It was also a key source of illicit funding for the government of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The deposed strongman’s brother, Maher, a military commander, was widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.

Since his overthrow in December, the new Islamist authorities have sought to crack down on the drug trade and have announced the discovery of millions of captagon pills and said they have thwarted smuggling attempts.

Earlier this month, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab said authorities had seized all captagon production facilities in Syria.