A video emerged on social media showing authorities removing bucketloads of narcotic pills, specifically Captagon, from inside pickled peppers.
In the video, authorities are seen having to go through the tedious process of physically removing the pills out of the oozing green peppers filled in dozens of white buckets stacked in a warehouse.
While it appears that the video of this thwarted smuggling attempt dates back to 2018, it doesn’t change the reality of how little effort has been made to crack down on drug smuggling in Lebanon.
The reemergence of this video comes as Lebanese officials strive to get Saudi Arabia to reverse its ban on produce shipments from Lebanon.
The ban was issued following years of thwarted attempts to smuggle Captagon and other illicit drugs hidden in fruits and vegetables from Lebanon into KSA.
The most recent drug bust that prompted the ban was the discovery of millions of Captagon pills hidden inside pomegranates. However, in the past year alone, Saudi Arabia seized upwards of $1.1 billion worth of drugs from Lebanon.
The video is a painful reminder that the drug problem is far from being under control.
