Suspect caught attempting to smuggle 2.5m Captagon pills

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents have recently foiled an attempt to smuggle over 2 million Captagon pills that were hidden in a truck which was heading to a neighbouring country, official sources said on Monday.

One Jordanian was arrested and police are searching for other suspects, a senior AND official told The Jordan Times.

“We received a tip about this shipment over a month ago and monitored it when it left the Zarqa Free Zone heading to Aqaba,” the source told The Jordan Times. 

AND agents pulled over the truck in Zarqa Governorate, some 22km east of Amman, and searched it, according to a Public Security Department (PSD) statement.

“Agents found bags hidden in secret compartments in the truck,” the PSD statement said.

AND personnel found 15 bags that contained 2.5 million Captagon pills, according to the official and the PSD statement.

The suspect was referred to the State Security Court prosecutor for further questioning and indictment, the PSD statement added.

Pills such as Captagon (fenethylline) are usually manufactured and transported from neighbouring countries in the north via Jordan to rich countries on the southern border.

Smugglers target rich countries because one Captagon  pill there is worth around JD7, while its market value in Jordan does not exceed JD1 per pill, officials have previously told The Jordan Times.