Captagon pills seized by the Lebanese police. (Credit: Internal Security Forces/file)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced Saturday that security forces seized a "very large quantity of captagon, exceeding 1 million pills" at the Beirut port. The pills were bound for Kuwait, via Sudan, Mawlawi added, making the announcement in a tweet.
The minister also said that the pills "were hidden in a shipment of grapes" and assured that "investigations are underway."
Later in the afternoon, Mawlawi retweeted a tweet by the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry, which praised "the coordination and cooperation between the Lebanese and Kuwaiti ministries of interior, represented by the General Directorate of Counter Narcotics," that resulted in the seizure. "We are determined to protect our societies as part of improving the common security of Arab countries," Mawlawi added in another message on the social network.
The Lebanese authorities and security forces regularly announce that they have seized large quantities of captagon, most of it destined for Arab countries. Such drug smuggling has previously caused tensions between Lebanon and some of the Gulf countries.
In January, Kuwait led an initiative on behalf of the Gulf countries to restore relations with Lebanon after a diplomatic crisis erupted between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. The initiative included requests to prevent drug trafficking from Lebanon to the Gulf and the disarmament of Hezbollah. While Lebanon’s foreign minister rejected the latter condition, relations between Lebanon and some Gulf countries have since been restored.