Caotagon ready for smuggling to Sudan from Beirut port seized by authorities. (Credit: @MawlawiBassam/ Twitter)
BEIRUT — The Anti-Narcotics Division of the Lebanese Customs Administration seized roughly one million Captagon pills in the port of Beirut, caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi tweeted Thursday.
The Captagon was hidden inside construction equipment that was intended to be exported to Sudan, Mawalwi said.
The intelligence service of the Internal Security Forces has also arrested a Syrian national who allegedly used a false Lebanese identity to complete the shipment's transactions.
After inspecting the contents of the aforementioned shipment, 165 kilograms of Captagon, equivalent to one million pills, were found inside, Mawalwi said.
The investigation is still ongoing.
On Wednesday, an alleged attempt to traffic drugs at sea was foiled by the Lebanese Army at Abdeh beach, in Akkar, North Lebanon, the army announced via Twitter.
Authorities have stepped up efforts to combat drug trafficking from or through Lebanon, a practice regularly singled out by Gulf countries.
In early October, the Lebanese customs seized approximately 1.8 million Captagon pills hidden in industrial machinery to be exported to Tunisia through the port of Beirut.