Lebanon Thwarts Attempt to Smuggle Captagon to Saudi Arabia

A Lebanese policeman walks in Beirut, Lebanon March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A Lebanese policeman walks in Beirut, Lebanon March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Lebanon Thwarts Attempt to Smuggle Captagon to Saudi Arabia

A Lebanese policeman walks in Beirut, Lebanon March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A Lebanese policeman walks in Beirut, Lebanon March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The Lebanese Internal Security Forces thwarted an attempt to smuggle four million Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia through Jordan.

The special forces identified all the members of the smuggling network, including two smugglers from Lebanon and Syria, who were later detained.

The Lebanese special forces raided a warehouse in Bir Hassan, southern suburbs of Beirut, and found four million Captagon pills in a shipment of coffee bags that were ready for transportation.

Upon investigation, both individuals confessed to the crime.

According to the the Internal Security Forces, the Lebanese smuggler has been previously detained for smuggling Captagon pills to the Kingdom and was released almost a year ago.

Earlier last month, security forces thwarted the smuggling of 1.5 million Captagon pills hidden in the base of wooden pallets that had been prepared for export through Beirut.



Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
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Over 50,000 Have Fled Lebanon for Syria Amid Israeli Strikes, Says UN

Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo
Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, carry belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar/File Photo

The UN refugee chief said Saturday that more than 50,000 people had fled to Syria amid escalating Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.

"More than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon have now crossed into Syria fleeing Israeli air strikes," Filippo Grandi said on X.

He added that "well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon".

A UNHCR spokesman said the total number of displaced in Lebanon had reached 211,319, including 118,000 just since Israel dramatically ramped up its air strikes on Monday, AFP reported.

The remainder had fled their homes since Hezbollah militants in Lebanon began low-intensity cross-border attacks a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel has shifted the focus of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as cross-border exchanges escalated over the past week.

Most of those Lebanese deaths came on Monday, the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"Relief operations are underway, including by UNHCR, to help all those in need, in coordination with both governments," Grandi said.