Twelve tons of drugs were found hidden in boxes of powdered juice in Lebanon on Thursday. (Credit: @MawlawiBassam)
BEIRUT — Nearly 12 tons of drugs hidden inside boxes of powdered juice and bound for Sudan were seized in Lebanon.
Here’s what we know:
• Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Thursday the seizure of a shipment of nearly 12 tons of drugs hidden in boxes of powdered juice intended to be transported via Sudan to an unnamed country. Mawlawi did not indicate the type of drug.
• Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea commented on the drug bust saying, “The judicial police revealed the destination of the shipment but did not address its source. Did the new captagon shipment land from the sky at the port of Beirut?”
• This is the second drug bust announced this week. On Tuesday Mawlawi announced the seizure of a shipment of captagon tablets hidden in crates of tea which the minister speculated could have ended up in Saudi Arabia.
• Lebanon has sought to crack down on drug trafficking since Saudi Arabia last April imposed a ban on Lebanese produce imports after discovering more than 5 million captagon pills in a shipment of pomegranates that arrived from Lebanon.