Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed Hajjar revealed that security authorities in the country seized approximately 6.5 million Captagon pills that were being prepared for smuggling to Saudi Arabia through the Port of Beirut. The shipment was seized before reaching the port.

Security forces arrested the smuggling network after monitoring its activities for months. The network operated between Lebanon, Turkey, Australia, and Jordan, and posed a widespread threat, according to Hajjar.

Earlier, Hajjar confirmed that his country was coordinating with Riyadh to exchange intelligence on the activities of criminal networks involved in drug smuggling, in order to combat its spread.

Lebanon had previously foiled the largest attempt to smuggle cocaine from Brazil to Beirut, hidden in a shipment of vegetable oil containers. This was based on information provided by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Directorate for Narcotics Control, to its counterpart agency in Lebanon.

A few days after the incident, Saudi Arabia seized an attempt to smuggle more than 6 million amphetamine pills from Lebanon into another country via Jeddah Islamic Port. All of this reflects the ongoing coordination between the two countries to determine methods of cooperation in the areas of combating the drug.