RIYADH: Saudi Customs foiled an attempt on Wednesday to smuggle more than 4 million Captagon pills through Duba port in the northwest of the Kingdom.
According to reports, the contraband was being smuggled in a truck which came to Duba on a ferry. The authorities found the pills hidden under a white plastic sheet.
Captagon, the brand name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline hydrochloride, was developed in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity and narcolepsy. It was banned in the 1980s because of its potential for abuse, but a knock-off version continues to be illegally manufactured in small-scale labs in Lebanon, Turkey and Syria.
A team of 180 men and women working in various sections of the port including security are well equipped with advanced technology. There are three X-ray machines to scan trucks, containers and passenger cars, without obstructing traffic. There is also continuous monitoring of cars and people with surveillance cameras.
Duba port is strategically located, which allows for shipments from Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and European countries. It has been a hotspot for the smuggling of these drug to the Kingdom.
A whopping 18 million Captagon pills were seized by customs officials at Duba port in 2014-15.
On Sunday, the Customs Department here at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) foiled an attempt to smuggle 47,206 Captagon pills hidden in three clothing consignments via express mail.
Sultan Al-Fuhaid, director general of customs at KKIA, said Sunday that the hidden Captagon tablets were found in three consignments of women’s dresses during a customs check. The pills were wrapped in material to cover the items in an attempt to outsmart officers, but the attempt was foiled by the alert staff.
Early this month, customs officers at the KKIA foiled a smuggling attempt when two drug couriers were arrested separately after substantial amounts of heroin found inside their intestines, while several attempts to smuggle a large amount of cannabis (hashish) through land by drug peddlers were foiled last month at the Al-Wadeea inlet.
Also, an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of pork, which is banned not only in the Kingdom but other Islamic countries, was foiled recently in Riyadh.
According to reports, the contraband was being smuggled in a truck which came to Duba on a ferry. The authorities found the pills hidden under a white plastic sheet.
Captagon, the brand name for the synthetic stimulant fenethylline hydrochloride, was developed in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity and narcolepsy. It was banned in the 1980s because of its potential for abuse, but a knock-off version continues to be illegally manufactured in small-scale labs in Lebanon, Turkey and Syria.
A team of 180 men and women working in various sections of the port including security are well equipped with advanced technology. There are three X-ray machines to scan trucks, containers and passenger cars, without obstructing traffic. There is also continuous monitoring of cars and people with surveillance cameras.
Duba port is strategically located, which allows for shipments from Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and European countries. It has been a hotspot for the smuggling of these drug to the Kingdom.
A whopping 18 million Captagon pills were seized by customs officials at Duba port in 2014-15.
On Sunday, the Customs Department here at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) foiled an attempt to smuggle 47,206 Captagon pills hidden in three clothing consignments via express mail.
Sultan Al-Fuhaid, director general of customs at KKIA, said Sunday that the hidden Captagon tablets were found in three consignments of women’s dresses during a customs check. The pills were wrapped in material to cover the items in an attempt to outsmart officers, but the attempt was foiled by the alert staff.
Early this month, customs officers at the KKIA foiled a smuggling attempt when two drug couriers were arrested separately after substantial amounts of heroin found inside their intestines, while several attempts to smuggle a large amount of cannabis (hashish) through land by drug peddlers were foiled last month at the Al-Wadeea inlet.
Also, an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of pork, which is banned not only in the Kingdom but other Islamic countries, was foiled recently in Riyadh.
