Lebanon army seizes 1.2 million captagon pills

Lebanon's military said Tuesday it seized about 1.2 million captagon pills that were being packed into a vehicle for smuggling out of the country.

The Lebanese army said it arrested two people in an area north of Beirut while they were packing the pills.

Lebanon has faced pressure from Gulf states to counter production and trafficking of drugs, particularly captagon, an amphetamine-like narcotic for which Gulf monarchies are a major market.

Neighbouring Syria was a major centre of the captagon trade after its civil war began in 2011. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in 2024, Syria's new authorities have been working to combat the trade, while Lebanon and Syria have tried to stop smuggling across their 330-kilometre border.

Hezbollah, an ally of Assad, has also faced accusations in Lebanon of using the captagon trade to finance itself. The group has been accused of involvement in the trade, but the army statement on Tuesday did not link Hezbollah to the seizure.