Saudi Arabia has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1.6 million Captagon pills, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
Captagon is a type of amphetamine-style stimulant fenethylline that continues to be manufactured, mostly in Lebanon and Syria, for illegal recreational use.
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The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) caught the drugs hidden in a caravan van sent to the Kingdom to the Jeddah Islamic Port.
Three men have been arrested in connection to the crime, the report added.
Authorities in the region have been cracking down on narcotics. In a strong stance against drug use, the Kingdom placed a ban on the import of fruit and vegetables from Lebanon in 2021 after Saudi Arabia’s Customs foiled an attempt to smuggle over five million pills of Captagon.
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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