In what officials described as a “historic security achievement,” Yemeni authorities in the eastern province of Mahra have thwarted the first attempt to set up a fully equipped laboratory for producing synthetic drugs inside the country.
The preemptive operation underscored Yemen’s ability to confront transnational organized crime and shield both the nation and the wider region from its dangers.
The raid, carried out in the Shahn district after weeks of meticulous intelligence work, uncovered a criminal network that included suspects linked to the Iran-backed Houthis. According to state media, the group had planned to manufacture large industrial quantities of the stimulant Captagon and the methamphetamine crystal known locally as “shabu.”
Initial investigations revealed that the laboratory, fitted with state-of-the-art machines and testing facilities, was capable of producing more than 35,000 Captagon tablets per hour and 13 kilograms of shabu per day.
Officials warned such an operation would have posed an unprecedented threat to national and regional security.
The field operation was overseen by Brig. Gen. Mufti Suhail Samoudah, director of Mahra police, along with senior security and judicial leaders including Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ali Rafit, Deputy Security Director and Head of Criminal Investigation Dr. Rashid al-Salahi, and Judge Saeed Badinar, Deputy Prosecutor of Shahn. Judicial oversight was led by Judge Hani Balhaf, head of the Specialized Criminal Prosecution, to ensure evidence collection followed legal procedures.
Authorities confirmed the arrest of six suspects, some tied to the Houthis and others of Arab nationalities, believed to be part of a wider regional criminal network.
Speaking after the raid, al-Salahi said foiling the laboratory before production began was a “critical preemptive strike” that spared Yemen and the region grave consequences.
Badinar called the attempt to establish such a large facility a “dangerous precedent,” exposing international criminal plans to turn Yemen from a transit hub for drug smuggling into a producer.
Samoudah praised the operation as proof of the vigilance of Yemen’s security forces, while Balhaf stressed that coordination between security and judiciary bodies was key to its success.
Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Haidan lauded the achievement in a phone call with Mahra’s police chief, describing it as evidence of the “high readiness and professionalism” of local units.
He added that the foiled plot highlights Yemen’s ability to confront organized crime networks linked to the Houthis or other regional actors.
