DAMASCUS, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Syria's anti-narcotics department has dismantled a drug trafficking network in capital Damascus's countryside, and confiscated over 160,000 Captagon pills, state news agency SANA reported Thursday.

Two suspects were arrested during the operation, and legal proceedings have been initiated against them, SANA reported.

Some of the seized pills had been hidden inside car batteries that were prepared for smuggling abroad, it noted.

Captagon, the trademark name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline, was developed in the 1960s to treat conditions such as hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression. Due to its high potential for addiction, it was later banned in most countries in the 1980s.

In recent months, Syria has stepped up anti-narcotics operations and expanded cooperation with neighboring countries, leading to the destruction of substantial amounts of illicit substances and the dismantling of several trafficking networks. Enditem