A Saudi customs officer documents a seized shipment of Captagon pills disguised as pomegranates, sent from Lebanon, at the port in Jeddah last year. Photo: AP
A Saudi customs officer documents a seized shipment of Captagon pills disguised as pomegranates, sent from Lebanon, at the port in Jeddah last year. Photo: AP
A Saudi customs officer documents a seized shipment of Captagon pills disguised as pomegranates, sent from Lebanon, at the port in Jeddah last year. Photo: AP
Saudi Arabia seized more than 37 tonnes of illegal drugs last year, as well as 190 million pieces of the highly addictive Captagon pills, figures released by the kingdom’s customs authority show.
The haul included hashish, heroin, cocaine, qat and other narcotics. In addition, authorities seized more than 234,000 bottles and 4,155 litres of smuggled alcohol.
The campaign against drugs came as part of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority's mission to “protect society, support the national economy and improve international trade,” a Saudi Press Agency report said.
The authority operates 41 customs ports around the Kingdom, using modern security techniques, sniffer dogs and other methods to detect contraband.
"The record in 2021 demonstrates success in tightening customs control over imports and exports, as well as combating smuggling in all its forms,” the authority said in a statement.
Lebanon and Syria are the biggest sources of Captagon tablets in the kingdom, but some of the pills that make it are manufactured in Jordan, where the authorities in 2018 dismantled a laboratory producing the drug.
Last April, Saudi Arabia issued a ban on fresh produce shipments from Lebanon after what it said was a surge in the number of attempts to smuggle drugs from Beirut and inadequate security checks by Lebanese security forces.
Soon after, other Gulf countries supported the Saudi move and threatened to impose similar measures.
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
8pm: Futoon
Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
2.15pm: Galaxy Road
2.45pm: Dark Thunder
3.15pm: Inverleigh
3.45pm: Bawaasil
4.15pm: Initial
4.45pm: Tafaakhor
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
