BEIRUT — The
Lebanese authorities have seized a
large quantity of Captagon hidden in a tea shipment bound for Saudi Arabia, the
interior minister announced Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
"Painstaking police work led to the
seizure of a Captagon shipment, which was headed to Togo in Africa,"
Bassam Mawlawi said at a press conference.
The shipment's final destination was meant
to be
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.
The amphetamine pills, likely manufactured
in Lebanon or Syria, were concealed in a seven-tonne shipment of tea at Beirut
port, Mawlawi said.
Saudi Arabia slapped devastating trade
restrictions last year on
Beirut after a huge shipment originating from Lebanon
was seized, containing Captagon concealed in pomegranates.
Lebanon is embroiled in its worst ever
economic crisis and is keen to mend ties with the kingdom and other Gulf
countries.
In another major seizure at
Beirut port last
month, around nine million Captagon pills were found hidden in fake oranges.
According to an AFP count, more than 25
million pills of Captagon have been seized across the region since the start of
the year alone.
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