RIYADH: Saudi Customs forms have a strongly worded disclaimer warning that drug traffickers are given the death penalty, but Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 abuser of stimulants in the region despite this ominous message to smugglers, according to a new report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“More illegal amphetamines are being seized in the Gulf than in the US, China and Britain combined,” said the 303-page report released last week. “Captagon pills — a mixture of the stimulants fenethylline and caffeine — change hands for only a few riyals on the streets of Jeddah, Manama and Doha.”
Captagon was originally prescribed for treating severe conditions such as depression and narcolepsy.
The report uses words like “unprecedented” and “dramatic increase” to describe the abuse of stimulants in Saudi Arabia, information based on a spike in drug seizures.
Stimulants from Bulgaria and Turkey are being trucked through Syria and Jordan and distributed throughout the Gulf region, it said.
The UNODC report reveals how young Saudis and Arabs fall prey to drugs and addiction. The report documents how Captagon seizures mushroomed from 291 kgs in 2000 to 12.3 tons in 2006.
Omani officials have also confiscated two tons of illegal stimulants recently, while smaller shipments were seized in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait.
The report also speaks about the lack of enforcement and forensics infrastructure, which have been eluding all attempts to tackle Captagon traffickers.
The 30mg tablets have become a craze among the Gulf’s sizeable population of teenagers and adults aged 20-25, offering users a sensation of self-confidence that eventually leads to addiction and paranoia. Boys tend to take the drug for its stimulating effect while girls are using it as a combination stimulant/weight loss supplement.
Both sexes use the drug to stay awake as they study for final exams or for recreation at social gatherings.
