Five Million Dollars Worth of Captagon Pills Seized in Bekaa Valley

The security forces on Tuesday seized more than one million Captagon pills in a valley in the Bekaa region, reportedly worth millions of U.S. dollars.

The Directorate General of Internal Security Forces issued a communique explaining that a police force raided the valley on Monday upon information received and investigated by the Bekaa anti-drug bureau.

"The Captagon pills were found in 12 burlap bags, hidden inside a dried up mud pool,” the communique detailed, adding that they were readied to be exported.

It noted: “The price of the 1,070,400 pills was estimated at USD 5 million”.

The bags were transferred to the anti-drug bureau and investigation is currently underway to reveal and arrest those involved in this case, the ISF's statement said.

In 2012, the security forces launched a mission to destruct cannabis crops in the Bekaa region amid protests from local residents.

Seventeen tractors were involved in the destruction of the fields that measure up to 300 dunums.

However, the residents of the Bekaa town of al-Yammouneh staged in August 2012 a sit-in in protest against the destruction of cannabis crops in the region.

The town's municipality head Mohammed Sharif, who participated in the sit-in, expressed: “The destruction of the cannabis crops has turned into the destruction of the souls of the citizens who have been seeking to earn a decent living given the government’s absence”.