Saudi prince arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 2 tonnes of drugs on private plane

A Saudi prince and four others have been detained in Lebanon in the largest drug bust in the history of the Beirut airport, a security source said.

Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were detained by airport security while allegedly “attempting to smuggle about two tonnes of Captagon pills and some cocaine,” a security source said on Monday.

“The smuggling operation is the largest one that has been foiled through the Beirut International Airport,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Captagon is the brand name for the amphetamine phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant. The banned drug is consumed mainly in the Middle East and has reportedly been widely used by fighters in Syria.

The security source said the drugs had been packed into cartons that were waiting to be loaded onto a private plane that was headed to Saudi Arabia.

The five Saudi citizens were still in the airport and would be questioned by Lebanon’s customs authority, the source added.