Lebanon seizes Captagon concealed in tea shipment bound for Saudi Arabia

The Lebanese authorities have seized a large quantity of Captagon hidden in a tea shipment bound for Saudi Arabia, the interior minister announced Tuesday.

“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.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Members of Lebanon’s security forces present in a press conference a seized cache of Captagon tablets that was hidden in tea at the headquarters of the Internal Security Forces in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on January 25, 2022. (AFP)

The shipment’s final destination was meant to be Saudi Arabia.

Captagon is a stimulant derived from a banned fenethylline-based drug.

The amphetamine pills, likely manufactured in Lebanon or Syria, were concealed in a seven-ton 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.

Read more:

In rare instance, Lebanese government rebukes Hezbollah and its leader

Visit aims to rebuild trust with Lebanon: Kuwait foreign minister

Foiled drug shipment to Saudi Arabia was packed in Syria, not Lebanon: Sources