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Lebanon thwarts another attempt to smuggle narcotics into Saudi

June 3, 2021 at 1:53 pm

Captagon pills are displayed along with a cup of cocaine [JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images]

The Lebanese authorities announced that they had thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics to Saudi Arabia, Al-Khaleej Online reports.

“The security forces and the General Directorate of Customs seized at Rafic Hariri International Airport a quantity of Captagon pills (narcotic) inside small generators,” caretaker Interior Minister, Brigadier General Mohamed Fahmy, said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said the shipment had been intended for the Saudi city of Dammam.

Last month, Saudi Arabia announced the suspension of fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, saying shipments were being used for drug smuggling and accused Beirut of inaction.

This came after Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon said that large quantities of drugs had been smuggled from Lebanon — “enough to drown the whole Arab world” — and had been seized before entering the kingdom over the past few years.

READ: Lebanon arrests two suspects in Saudi drug haul