Saudi Arabia seizes 8 million Captagon pills as it courts Syria's Assad to clamp down
The kingdom and Jordan both want Syria to help stop the flourishing drug trade as they seek normalization with the Assad government.
Saudi authorities announced a major drug bust on Wednesday seizing more than 8 million Captagon pills, at the time that the kingdom is courting the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad to help in combatting drug smuggling.
The latest bust came as Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia has offered Syria "proposed compensation that would come as aid for the loss of the trade in the event it stops."
It added that Riyadh had offered Assad "$4 billion, based on an estimate of the value of the trade."
What happened: The Saudi General Directorate of Narcotics Control said they seized more than 8 million Captagon pills hidden in a shipment of coffee creamer. Two Syrian residents and two Pakistani residents were arrested, as well as one Syrian with an expired visitor visa. The directorate did not say where the shipment was seized.
