Lebanese authorities seize massive drug shipment en route to Gulf countries

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces impounded millions of illegal Captagon narcotic pills in Beirut’s port on Thursday, just moments before they were due to be loaded on to a ship headed for the Persian Gulf.

“As a result of precise observation and swift tracking, the central anti-narcotics department… was able to seize millions of narcotic Captagon pills [which had been hidden] inside [sacks] of maize in hold number six of Beirut’s port,” a statement from the ISF’s public relations branch announced.

“[The shipment was seized] in the final moments before it was raised on to [several] ships headed to a country in the [Arabian] Gulf.”

The statement added that: “[The contents of] seven other hangars with the same [specifications] were exported in three shipments. [The issue] will be pursued with police in the [concerned] country.”

Lebanese authorities in the last two years have busted a growing number of attempts to smuggle large amounts of Captagon, including an August bust in the Beirut port that seized $50-100 million worth of the drug.

Captagon is a synthetic stimulant that was banned in most markets in the mid-1980s but has grown in popularity in Gulf countries since the 2000s.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime classifies Captagon as an “amphetamine type stimulant.”

Now Lebanon