Israel thwarts drug smuggling attempt into Gaza

The captagon pills – known as the ‘ISIS drug’ – were hidden in office refrigerator doors sent from the West Bank to Gaza

Israel’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that it thwarted a drug smuggling attempt into the Gaza Strip.

There was an attempt to smuggle thousands of captagon pills – also known as the “ISIS drug” – through the Tarqumiyah Crossing. Captagon is a stimulant notorious for its ties with Islamic State fighters.

The increasingly popular amphetamine-style stimulant drug is produced in government-controlled areas of Syria and marketed almost exclusively in the Middle East.

According to the Defense Ministry, the pills were hidden in office refrigerator doors sent from the West Bank to Gaza. “The shipment was confiscated and delivered to law enforcement authorities for further review,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Late last week, Israeli forces announced they had thwarted two drug-smuggling attempts in the Jordan Valley over the past two weeks.

On Tuesday, seven suspects attempting to smuggle drugs into Israeli territory from the Jordan Valley were arrested, and drugs worth an estimated $431,000 were confiscated. And, a week earlier, another drug-smuggling attempt was prevented, with drugs worth $134,000 confiscated.

In addition to drugs, Israeli forces regularly confiscate weapons and other illegal items at Israel’s borders. Last summer, the Israeli military announced increasing success in thwarting these attempts at the Jordanian and Egyptian borders. As a result, Israeli forces captured hundreds of illegal weapons and thousands of pounds of illicit drugs in 2022.

Source: i24news