AL-JOUF: Customs authorities announced yesterday they foiled an attempt to smuggle a large consignment of Captagon pills through Al-Hudaitha entry point north of Saudi Arabia.
Atalla Al-Zaid, head of the Customs Department in Al-Hudaitha, said two smuggling attempts were foiled on the same day. He said officials found more than 500,000 Captagon pills inside hidden compartments of a Makkah-bound bus.
Al-Zaid said smugglers have increased their efforts to smuggle Captagon with the approach of school exams when demand for the stimulant increases. Abusers believe taking the stimulant keeps them alert enough to cram for final exams. The active ingredient in Captagon is fenethylline, which provides an amphetamine high.
In the second case, the Customs Department foiled the smuggling of more than two million Captagon pills hidden inside a truckload of bricks.
Earlier this week, the Saudi border guards have foiled efforts to smuggle 5.5 million Captagon tablets, 3,002 kg of hashish and 19.5 kg of heroin into the Kingdom in a major bust that was commended by Monday’s Cabinet meeting.
Security forces arrested 81 Saudis and 75 foreign nationals in connection with recent drug busts.
While drug abuse is treated as an ailment and drug peddling is met with prison time and lashes, drug trafficking (entering the Kingdom in possession of controlled substances) is a capital crime in Saudi Arabia for which violators are executed if found guilty.
