Saudi official: Drugs smuggled from Lebanon enough to drown Arab world

Dubai: The quantity of drugs and psychotropics smuggled from Lebanon is enough to drown not only Saudi Arabia but also the entire Arab world, a Saudi official said.

According to the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Bukhari, that there were attempts to smuggle 600 million narcotic pills from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia over the past six years.

He said that the smuggling of drugs is not only targeting Saudi Arabia, but also all parts of the Arab world.

Saudi Arabia imposed a ban entry on Lebanese fruits and vegetables to or passing through the Kingdom, starting Sunday April 25, 2021.

The authorities took this decision after seizing more than 5 million pills of an amphetamine drug known as Captagon, hidden in a shipment of pomegranate coming from Lebanon.

The General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) in Saudi Arabia spokesman Capt. Mohammad Al Nijeidi said: “75 per cent of the seized quantities of banned substances in the Kingdom come from Lebanon. We have carried out pre-emptive strikes against smuggling in Lebanon”.

He stressed that the smuggling operations are intentionally targeting the Kingdom’s security.