The Captagon tablets seized by the ISF, according to the announcement made on Aug. 9, 2026. (Credit: Photo released on the ISF's X account)
BEIRUT — The Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced Sunday that they had seized a package containing 5,000 captagon pills bound for Saudi Arabia.
In a statement, the ISF General Directorate said that “as part of the ongoing efforts to track down and arrest those involved in drug-related cases, and in accordance with the plan implemented by the judicial police unit to combat this scourge and curb its spread, the Central Office for Combating Narcotics received, on July 17, 2026, information about an operation to smuggle drugs to Saudi Arabia through a transport company.”
A Lebanese national, nearly 50 years old, was arrested as he “was handing over the package to the transport company.” The pills were “sophisticatedly concealed inside a box containing a vase ... He was referred to the judiciary and the investigation is ongoing to arrest others involved.”
Lebanon has stepped up its efforts to combat drug trafficking in general, and particularly the trafficking of Captagon to Saudi Arabia, since the formation of Nawaf Salam’s government in February 2025. The Wahhabi kingdom had suspended imports of Lebanese products in 2021 after a large quantity of captagon, a synthetic stimulant drug, was discovered hidden in a shipment from Lebanon, before restoring them last June.
Houthis target Yemen’s al-Makha port with missiles, drones