In a massive drug haul, Saudi security authorities seized 47 million amphetamine pills during a raid at a warehouse in Riyadh and arrested eight foreign nationals involved in the smuggling, according to the state-media reports.
According to the Saudi General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC), the security forces tracked the apparent shipment of floor, carrying drugs, as it arrived at the Riyadh Dry Port and was smuggled to the designated warehouse. Later, the authorities raided the warehouse, confiscating the drugs and arresting eight foreigners. The arrested foreigners include six Syrian citizens and two Pakistani nationals.
The drugs have reportedly a street value of between $470 million and over $1 billion and it is the largest-known smuggling attempt of its kind in KSA.
GDNC spokesperson Maj. Muhammad Al-Nujaidi called the confiscation of 46,916,480 amphetamine tablets shipment as the “biggest operation of its kind to smuggle this amount of narcotics into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in one operation”.
“The security authorities will foil all such smuggling attempts and arrest everyone who takes part in drug smuggling and ensure them getting deterrent punishment,” Al-Nujaidi added.
Though the GDNC did not name the amphetamine, KSA is the largest market for tablets bearing the Captagon logo.
What is Captagon?
Captagon, one of the brand names for the amphetamine-type stimulant fenethylline, is typically a mix of caffeine, amphetamine and various fillers. This drug is manufactured mostly in Syria and Lebanon and is one of the most popular recreational drugs among wealthy youths in the Gulf, as per the reports.
It has also been used by the Syrian civil war fighters, who say it tranquilities their fears on the frontline.
A 2021 Foreign Policy article on the increased use of Captagon in Saudia, quoted researchers as saying that “boredom and social restrictions,” as well as easy availability, were fuelling the use of this drug in the kingdom.
Earlier On Tuesday, the Saudi ambassador to Beirut, WaleedBukhari, told press that over the past eigt years, the kingdom had seized over 700 million narcotic pills that had entered its territory via Lebanon.
Convicted drug traffickers in Saudi Arabia are sentenced to death.