Lebanon thwarts attempt to smuggle millions of Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia

Smugglers were run by network with ties to Jordan, Turkey and Australia

Lebanese security forces with bags of the confiscated drugs, including Captagon, in Beirut. EPA

Lebanese authorities have stopped a drug trafficking network's attempts to smuggle Captagon pills and cannabis to Saudi Arabia, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Security officials “seized 6.5 million Captagon pills and 700kg of cannabis which were being prepared for shipment towards the kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, Lebanon's Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said on Monday.

The network had links to Jordan, Turkey, and Australia, he said. Its ringleader and several members were arrested after a months-long surveillance operation.

The plot was thwarted before the cargo reached Beirut port for shipment, he said, adding that fighting the drug trade “is one of the main priorities” of the Lebanese state.

He pointed out that the armed forces raided a drugs lab a few days ago, and that there was a “quantity of drugs that may have been remnants of the former regime in Syria”.

This month, Mr Hajjar said that co-operation with Saudi Arabia has led to the dismantling of smuggling networks, and that information received from the kingdom led to the confiscation of drugs worth $15 million.

Lebanese authorities had also seized this month a ship carrying 125kg of cocaine, the largest quantity of the drug yet smuggled from Brazil to Lebanon. This operation was made possible by intelligence provided by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, he said.

The operation highlights intensifying regional collaboration to confront the threat of amphetamine smuggling in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts in recent years to tackle drugs at their source and improve intelligence sharing with partners.

In mid-July, Lebanon's army announced the discovery of a Captagon factory in Yammouneh, about 25km from the city of Baalbek, after finding a 300-metre tunnel used to deliver and store materials for the lab.

It was “one of the largest labs” to be raided, the military said at the time. The army added that it seized about 10 tonnes of equipment and machinery and destroyed a “large quantity of Captagon pills, crystal meth and various narcotics”.