950 million Captagon tablets seized in 8 years

JEDDAH: The anti-drug Saudi enforcement agency has seized at least 950 million Captagon tablets in the last eight years, in addition to 254 tons of hashish and 428 kg of heroin, while the number of arrests reached 243,579, with 315,000 accused.
The National Committee for Combating Drugs (Nebras) has compiled statistics on the drug crime in the country including the number of cases, drug traffickers and the seized drugs including Captagon, hashish and heroin during a time period of 2009 till date.
In 2014, statistics showed the highest number of Captagon tablets seized by drug-combating forces in eight years had reached 100 million tablets. The seized weight of hashish was the highest in 2013, reaching more than 44 tons. The highest amount of seized heroin, which amounted to 111 kilograms, was registered in 2011.
These enormous seized quantities resulted in the highest recorded number of accused who were arrested in in 2015. The number of accused reached 53,000. The highest number of cases was in 2015 with 41,000 cases.
Abdullah Al-Sharif, secretary-general, the National Commission for Narcotics Control (NCNC), said at a Nebras media forum recently that those quantities were seized by anti-drug enforcement agency, stressing that methods of smuggling have recently developed and increased. The most recent smuggling methods were across barbed wires.
“The anti-drug enforcement agency is keen to follow up and monitor drug dealers. It has seized more than 33 social media accounts on different networking sites such as Path, Snap Chat, Twitter and other platforms. At least 42 drug dealers have been arrested through 33 accounts on these sites,” Al-Sharif said.
He made it clear that if drug addicts approach Nebras for treatment will not be arrested, but will be taken full care of at a drug addicts’ facility, based on the regulations of the Directorate General for Drug Control.
The list of sanctions of the directorate general for drug-combating provides that “The abuser will be punished by imprisonment for two years or be lashed by legitimate ruler, or removed from the country if he is a foreigner; there will be no action against those who come on their own volition, and will be provided treatment at an addicts’ facility.
Al-Sharif confirmed that 65 percent of patients at Amal Hospital are addicts of Captagon that makes the most of the drug seizures.
“Captagon is the most popular among other types of drugs and the majority of those who were arrested live in northern borders of the Kingdom.