Drug shipment: Lebanon foils smuggling of five million Captagon pills bound for Saudi Arabia via Syria

Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi    

Drug trafficking networks operating between Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf show no signs of slowing, with new smuggling attempts thwarted almost daily across the region.

In the latest operation, Lebanese customs authorities at the Beirut Port intercepted a shipment containing five million amphetamine pills, known locally as Captagon, and arrested one of the suspects involved.

According to details published by the Saudi Press Agency and confirmed by Lebanese sources to LBCI, the shipment originated in Syria and was transported through Lebanon. The drugs were meticulously concealed inside glass and porcelain kitchenware, a common method used by smugglers to disguise illicit cargo.

The operation was carried out after Lebanon's Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit received intelligence from Saudi Arabia's General Directorate for Drug Control regarding the concealed shipment inside a container at Beirut Port.

Despite the sophisticated concealment, customs officers successfully tracked and intercepted the container, uncovering the massive quantity of Captagon hidden among tableware items.

Investigations revealed that the smugglers had planned to route the shipment through Georgia before reaching Saudi Arabia. 

Authorities say this tactic, involving transit through a third country, is designed to evade suspicion, especially after several high-profile drug seizures involving shipments originating directly from Lebanon and Syria to Gulf states.

A spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry praised the positive cooperation with Lebanese authorities in tracking and intercepting narcotics, stressing the kingdom's ongoing commitment to confronting criminal networks targeting the Gulf with drug trafficking.