Saudi royal detained in Beirut after 2 tons of drugs found on private jet

(Image credit: Twitter.com/Ecentauri)

published 26 October 2015

A member of the Saudi royal family and four others have been detained in Beirut after authorities found 40 bags worth of Captagon pills on a private jet, Lebanon's National News Agency reports.

The agency says smugglers were planning to bring two tons of the drugs, which contain a synthetic stimulant, to Riyadh, and it was the largest-ever smuggling operation busted at Rafik Hariri International Airport. A spokesman with Lebanon's ministry of the interior said authorities are working to figure out if the Saudi royal family member is part of the alleged smuggling ring, and five other Saudi nationals are also being questioned. Saudi Arabia's ministry of foreign affairs did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.