Islamic State fighters dub it “chemical courage.” It stimulates the mind and keeps senses alert. When used on the battlefield, it allows soldiers to fight for days without sleeping. It produces euphoria, allowing its users to commit acts of carnage without the slightest feeling of remorse. It is called Captagon.

This drug was first produced in the 1960s as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and depression. Yet Captagon has a far more sinister use. Soldiers, militia and Islamic State terrorists are using this drug to fuel fighters clashing all across the Middle East.

According to a report from the Jerusalem Post, hostilities in Syria have prompted a huge increase in both production and smuggling of Captagon. It is primarily manufactured in Lebanon and has spread far and wide throughout the neighboring countries; often via groups like Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanon-based Shiite proxy militia. Since the 1980s, selling Captagon has brought enormous profits to terrorist organizations. This has helped radical Islam to spread as never before. But the consequences of Captagon exceed mere economic empowerment for terrorists like Islamic State and Hezbollah members.

Captagon’s effects on the minds and bodies of terrorists have Western governments worried. Speaking of the Captagon’s effects, Jerusalem Post wrote:

Some claim that they also reduce the sensation of pain, neutralize inhibitions and create a feeling of ecstasy mixed with euphoria that causes extreme and wild behavior. The use of Captagon, coupled with religious jihadist radicalism, could explain the extreme barbarity of [Islamic State] operatives, their acts of cruelty, their killing and raping sprees, their beheadings, their mass hangings and their mass attacks on men, women and children.

Others report that the drug is known to bring on dangerous side effects such as brain damage and psychosis.

This produces fanatics who feel no pain, fear or remorse—fanatics who are committing acts of terrorism across the Middle East and even Europe. Earlier this year, French officials seized shipments of Captagon worth an estimated $1.7 million. This indicates that undetected shipments of Captagon have been feeding terrorist cells inside the European Union.

Eye witnesses to some of the more brutal attacks carried out in the last few years claim they saw the terrorists acting “‘zombie-like,’ even serene, as they pulled their triggers and killed as many people as they could.”

Such reckless violence will only be tolerated by Europe for so long. In his booklet The King of the South, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry points out that terrorist attacks against Western nations are part of a larger conflict between Islam and Europe. The Bible prophesies that radical Islam will “push” at the “king of the north,” a European superpower (Daniel 11:40).

What follows will be truly devastating, making the acts now being carried out by Islamic State fighters look like child’s play.