Saudis bust more Captagon smugglers
The stimulant is widely sold and used in the Middle East, creating a market worth billions of dollars.
Saudi authorities said today that they thwarted more attempts to smuggle millions of Captagon pills into the country.
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority said in a press release it found 2,060,000 pills of the drug hidden in boxes of gloves at the Jeddah port and an additional 423,926 pills in a shipment marked as oranges at the Duba port. Both ports are located on the Red Sea.
The General Directorate of Narcotics Control arrested three people alleged to be the intended recipients of the pills, according to the press release.
Captagon is the market name of the drug Fenethylline, which is a stimulant that shares many properties and characteristics with amphetamines. It was originally used to treat depression, narcolepsy and other disorders, but is now widely illegal due to its addictiveness.
