Saudi Arabian Authorities Thwarted The Smuggling Of 4 Million Amphetamine Tablets, Embedd In Paprika Delivery

The evidence of amphetamine that was successfully secured by the Saudi Arabian authorities. (Source: SPA)

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabian authorities have thwarted efforts to smuggle nearly 4 million amphetamine tablets into the kingdom, the Directorate General of Narcotics Control said on Wednesday.

The confiscated narcotics pills were hidden in the delivery of peppers, said directorate spokesman Mohammed Al Nujaidi.

"Monitoring the security of a drug smuggling network targeting the kingdom and its young generation, managed to thwart an attempt to smuggle 3,989,000 amphetamine tablets," he said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency news agency.

Five people who tried to receive the narcotics shipment were arrested in Riyadh City and Jeddah Province, the spokesman said.

The five, each consisting of three Syrians and one Egyptian and Saudi Arabia, were referred to prosecutors for further investigation.

The security operation was carried out in coordination with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority. It is not yet clear where the narcotics shipment came from.

It is known, Captagon synthetic amphetamine which was first developed in the 1960s as a treatment for disruption to attention and hyperactivity is one of the most widely used drugs among young people in Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon and Syria are the largest producers of the Captagon tablet that managed to enter Saudi Arabia. Several illegal factories were in Jordan, where authorities in 2018 dismantled the laboratory that produces the drug.