Truck Laden with Captagon Busted in Tripoli
Police in the north, thwarted an operation to smuggle massive amounts of Captagon narcotic pills to Saudi Arabia, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
A truck coming from Syria that contained ample amounts of Captagon pills bound to be shipped to Saudi Arabia was seized in the northern port of Tripoli, added NNA.
A string of major drug busts in Syria and Lebanon has drawn attention to the trade in Captagon, an illegal substance that has flourished in the chaos of Syria's war.
Security forces in both countries have clamped down in recent months on exports of the psychostimulant, produced in swathes of Syrian and Lebanese territory where government oversight is lax or non-existent.
Captagon is classified by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime as an "amphetamine-type stimulant" and usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances.
On December 30, Lebanese authorities said they, in coordination with Saudi Arabia, had seized 12 million Captagon capsules and arrested the "mastermind" of a cell exporting them to the Gulf.
In October 2015, Lebanon arrested a Saudi prince and four other Saudi nationals for attempting to smuggle out nearly two tons of Captagon via Rafik Hariri International Airport, in one of the country's largest busts.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/219073 |