Lebanese authorities on Wednesday intercepted nine million pills of the recreational drug captagon inside a shipment of citrus, foiling an attempt to smuggle them to the Gulf, media reported. The pills were hidden inside fake oranges.
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Captagon – a mix of amphetamines also known as the "poor man's cocaine" – is one of the more popular recreational drugs among affluent youth in the Middle East.
"We want to send a message to the Arab world about our seriousness and our work to thwart evil from harming our Arab brothers," Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said as he inspected the shipment at Beirut.
According to Qatari network Al Jazeera, Lebanese Customs arrested several perpetrators and opened a judicial investigation into a plot to smuggle the pills at the Beirut port.
