Lebanon seizes Captagon hidden in tea heading for Saudi Arabia

More than 25 million pills have been seized in the Middle East since the start of the year

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  Lebanon's Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, left, at a press conference in Beirut that revealed an attempt had been foiled to smuggle a large quantity of Captagon pills in a shipment of tea. AFP

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  Lebanese police swooped and seized the boxes of tea containing amphetamines after the smugglers sailed from Beirut’s port. AP

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  A member from Internal Security Forces displays confiscated amphetamine Captagon pills which were hidden in 434 tea boxes mixed with seven tons of tea for export, at the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 January 2022. Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Lebanese police thwarted the attempt to smuggle large amounts of Captagon, which were hidden in 434 tea boxes that were on their way from Lebanon to the African nation of Togo to be sent from there to a Persian Gulf nation. EPA / WAEL HAMZEH

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  The amphetamines were hidden in 434 boxes mixed with seven tons of tea for export. AP

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  Mr Mawlawi said the drugs were being sent to Togo in Africa, to then be shipped to the Gulf. AFP

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  Some of the tea mixed with Captagon pills. Previous consignments have been hidden in fake oranges and lemons, car tyres and even live sheep. AFP

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  Last year, Saudi Arabia suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon after more than five million Captagon pills concealed in fruit were confiscated. EPA

Read more about the Middle East's Captagon crisis.

Lebanon has seized a large quantity of Captagon pills hidden in a tea shipment bound for Saudi Arabia, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Tuesday.

The shipment was destined for Saudi Arabia, which the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says is the world's biggest consumer of Captagon, a stimulant derived from a banned fenethylline-based drug.

Mr Mawlawi told Lebanese TV the pills, hidden inside more than 450 crates of tea, were seized on their way by sea to Togo. He said the shipment would then have been sent to Saudi Arabia

The Middle East is facing a Captagon crisis after production, trafficking and consumption of the drug skyrocketed in the past decade, with the small, off-white pills rising to become the region’s most popular drug.

“Painstaking police work led to the seizure of a Captagon shipment, which was headed to Togo in Africa,” Mr Mawlawi said at a press conference. Lebanese security forces said that the shipment would then be sent from the African country to Saudi Arabia.

The amphetamine pills, probably manufactured in Lebanon or Syria, were concealed in a seven-tonne shipment of tea at Beirut port, Mr Mawlawi said.

Saudi Arabia applied devastating trade restrictions on Beirut last year after the seizure of a huge shipment originating from Lebanon, containing Captagon concealed in pomegranates.

Lebanon is experiencing its worst economic crisis and is aiming to mend ties with the kingdom and other Gulf countries.

In another major seizure at Beirut port last month, about nine million Captagon pills were found hidden in fake oranges.

More than 25 million pills of Captagon have been seized across the region since the start of the year alone, according to AFP.

Middle East's Captagon crisis - in pictures

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  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, trafficking in amphetamines has increased in the Middle East in recent years. Photo: Dubai Customs

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  Specially trained K-9 units are often used by border forces to intercept shipments. EPA

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  Experts believe the amount intercepted accounts for only around a tenth of the total quantity of pills being smuggled out of places like Syria and Jordan. EPA

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  Dubai Customs thwarted 398 attempts to smuggle drugs into the city in the first three months of this year. Photo: Dubai Customs

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  Captagon pills on display after being seized in Greece in 2019. EPA

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  Captagon became synonymous with the Syrian Civil War. AFP

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  The small, off-white pills have quickly become one of the most widely consumed drugs in the Middle East. EPA

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  Millions of Captagon pills are seized around the world each year. EPA

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  Captagon pills on display after a major interception of a shipment in 2009. Nicole Hill / The National

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  Customs officers say Captagon smugglers prefer to use sea ports rather than airports because of the size of shipping containers, enabling them to conceal larger quantities of drugs. Photo: Dubai Customs