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France 24
an hour ago
- Politics
- France 24
War against captagon: Why is Saudi Arabia executing drug dealers on a massive scale?
Those found guilty of drug trafficking face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Of a total of 217 executions since the start of 2025, 144 have been put to death for drug-related offences. If the pace of executions continues, this year's total will surpass that of 2024, when 338 people were executed in the kingdom – the most since 1990. At the heart of this crackdown is the illegal amphetamine-like drug captagon, very much in demand in the Middle East. And Saudi Arabia, the Arab world 's largest economy, is one of its main consumers, according to the UN. Captagon: Rich consumers, poor dealers Captagon has become popular among wealthy young people in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, and is sold mainly by poor, immigrant dealers. Saudi Arabia executed 37 people for drug-related offences in June, Amnesty International reported this month. Of these, 34 were nationals from Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria. 'We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty,' said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. Human rights activists argue that capital punishment is detrimental to the image of tolerance and modernity that the kingdom seeks to project. And it seems to know this. Following the global outcry over the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Riyadh needed to do something to "polish' its international image, says Karim Sader, a political scientist and consultant specialising in the Gulf states. So it instituted a 33-month moratorium on executions for drug offences. It resumed these executions in November 2022, and Sader says the recent surge in executions is largely due to the backlog that resulted from the suspension. But the deaths of these foreign immigrant dealers 'will attract far less media coverage than Saudi dissidents' sentenced to death for political reasons, he says. 'The war on drugs justifies everything' Domestic political concerns are the main rationale behind the current crusade against captagon, Sader says. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is concerned that Saudi society 'will be corrupted by the scourge of drugs' and he wants to avoid this, 'even if it means using brutal means and shocking international organisations – especially Western ones". "The war on drugs justifies everything," Sader says. Taking a hard line is also politically expedient, given that the crown prince – who initiated a modest opening up of Saudi Arabia's authoritarian Islamic society – also has to contend with the 'conservative fringes' of Saudi society. For them, drug-related crimes should be punishable by death, Sader says. "The Saudi authorities hope that by hitting hard enough, they will succeed in dissuading drug trafficking," he says. The director of public security, Mohammed al-Bassami, in June reported "tangible positive results, with hard blows dealt to traffickers and smugglers", according to the influential Saudi daily Okaz. But Sader suggests that a successful anti-drug campaign must be multi-pronged. "We know that in the face of the drug challenge, repression alone is not enough," he says. The fall of Assad in Syria, the end of captagon in Arabia? In the fight against captagon, sometimes called the "poor man's cocaine", Riyadh can count on at least one regional ally: Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria's interim president. The day his rebel forces seized power in Damascus in December 2024, al-Sharaa referred to captagon in his victory speech. 'Syria has become the biggest producer of captagon on Earth,' he said. 'And today, Syria is going to be purified by the grace of God.' During Syria's 14-year-long civil war, captagon became the country's most important export, according to an investigation by The New York Times. Syria was producing 80 percent of the world's captagon by 2023. It became so prevalent that some Arab countries agreed that year to normalise relations with President Bashar al-Assad if he promised that Syria would stop flooding the region with the drug. Captagon production came to be the main source of revenue for Syria, a country shattered by war and hit hard by international sanctions. And Assad's closest allies – his brother Maher, in particular – were among the main beneficiaries of the multi-billion-dollar drug trade, which transformed Syria into a sort of 'narco-state'. Six months after the fall of Assad, the transitional Syrian authorities announced in June that all captagon production facilities had been seized. Meanwhile in Lebanon, Hezbollah – which has also profited from captagon trafficking – has been considerably weakened by the war with Israel. But while these trends might curtail the traffic in captagon, they are unlikely to bring an end to it. "The fall of Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah will help to stop captagon being trafficked to Saudi Arabia,' Sader says. 'But we will never be able to stop 100 percent of it.'
Zawya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Zawya
Saudi, French interior ministers sign security cooperation agreement in Paris
PARIS — Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif held official talks on Monday with French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau in Paris, where the two sides signed an executive document outlining future security cooperation between their ministries. The meeting followed a bilateral session during which both ministers reviewed key issues related to security collaboration, including combatting organized crime, drug trafficking, and money laundering, as well as enhancing the exchange of expertise between the two countries. Prince Abdulaziz emphasized that the talks reflect the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to deepen Saudi-French security relations. He praised the progress made in recent years and reiterated the Kingdom's commitment to expanding joint efforts with France to address transnational criminal threats. The Saudi minister also extended congratulations to his French counterpart on the occasion of France's National Day, wishing continued security, prosperity, and stability to the French government and people. The newly signed document aims to institutionalize cooperation across multiple security domains, signaling a strengthened partnership between the two interior ministries. © Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Mississauga group stole baby formula to trade for drugs, Peel police say
Peel Regional Police have arrested 11 people and laid 33 charges in Mississauga, where baby products were allegedly being exchanged for drugs. The four-month-long investigation in the Meadowvale area found a group was allegedly stealing high-demand baby products, such as formula, from local retailers and trading them directly for drugs. Staff Sgt. David Laing said this was likely a "product of opportunity" for the commercial retail theft ring. "Baby formula is expensive," he said. "So it maybe was an item that was being asked for from the drug trafficker or the network that was receiving the product." Peel police said in a news release Monday that they recovered and returned over $30,000 of stolen property. During searches, officers say they seized over half a kilogram of cocaine and a variety of other illicit narcotics. The 11 individuals were charged with a variety of offences, including theft, possession of property obtained by crime and trafficking in stolen goods. People in the community saw suspicious activity and contacted police, Const. Jacob Krane said in a YouTube video. Officers then identified the suspects using surveillance footage, police said in the release. "This is an investigation that really showcased the relationship that Peel police has with our community. Taking their complaints serious right from the forefront, working with our community to build this investigation to hold everyone accountable," Laing said. Peel police carried out simultaneous search warrants at two primary locations, one where stolen products were stored and one where the drugs were being consumed. "The identified drug trafficker was selling product and then the individuals buying were attending the second address and presumably using within the residence or on the property," Laing said. Baby food is valuable: experts Since the pandemic, parents have watched as prices of baby products, specifically formula, have skyrocketed. At the same time, shortages across the country have left many families feeling hopeless. It's too expensive for mothers juggling rent, food and work, Allan Gardens Food Bank president Meryl Wharton said. "They're so thankful when they get diapers or baby food where it's liquid or powdered milk," she said. Wharton said the food bank saw 61,000 people last year. Of those, five per cent needed baby formula and diapers. "We're seeing a lot of young mothers with babies," she said. Theft rings like these further the scarcity and inaccessible cost of baby products, said Toronto Metropolitan University professor Alison Kemper. "We see parents just utterly desperate because they don't have an alternative and they don't have an alternative to imported products," she said. The price of baby food for children aged one and older is drastically lower because parents can substitute it with whole milk, Kemper said, but the suspects are definitely not parents. "They're not getting the formula in order to feed their babies. They're doing it in order to somehow improve their cash flow in a drug market," she said. WATCH | Parents struggle to keep up with rising baby formula prices: Kemper said NAFTA agreements, COVID-19 supply chain issues and the fact that Canada's baby formula supply is solely reliant on the U.S. is problematic. "Whatever happens with trade agreements impacts the availability and the price of baby formula. If we produce it here, we would be able to ensure that we had a constant supply," she said. Regardless, this shows how expensive baby products have become, Kemper said. "It's a very bizarre thing to hear that baby formula is so high value that it's being used as a medium for illicit trade," she said. "People are willing to break into locks [and] shelving to get it out. They're willing to sort of up the ante and use some more sophisticated theft techniques than normal shoplifters."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
2 customs officers plead guilty to allowing drugs to enter the US through their inspection lanes
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two Customs and Border Protection officers pleaded guilty this month to allowing vehicles filled with illegal drugs to enter the U.S. from Mexico, federal prosecutors said Monday. The pair texted 'a secret emoji-based code' to let Mexican traffickers know which inspection lanes they were manning at the Tecate and Otay Mesa border crossings, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Prosecutors said when the drug-laden vehicles arrived, the officers would wave them through. Officers Jesse Clark Garcia, 37, and Diego Bonillo, 30, each pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to import controlled substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, the statement says. As part of his plea deal, Bonillo admitted that he allowed at least 165 pounds (75 kilograms) of fentanyl to enter the country, prosecutors said. The defendants 'profited handsomely, funding both domestic and international trips as well as purchases of luxury items and attempts to purchase real estate in Mexico,' the statement says. Garcia's sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26, and Bonillo will be sentenced Nov. 7. They could each face a maximum sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Crime ring exchanged stolen baby formula for drugs in Mississauga, Ont.: police
Police say 11 people face charges after an investigation into drug trafficking in Mississauga, Ont., that allegedly involved exchanging stolen baby formula and other products for drugs. Peel Regional Police say the four-month investigation, dubbed Project Bengal, revealed an organized crime group responsible for trafficking of drugs and thefts from retail businesses in the city's Meadowvale area. Investigators say suspects were allegedly stealing high-demand baby products, including formula and vitamins, to exchange them for drugs. Police say they used security footage and other investigative techniques to identify key suspects and two properties used for storing stolen products and to consume drugs. They say officers seized over half a kilogram of cocaine and a variety of other illicit drugs, along with a significant amount of stolen items and proceeds of crime. Police say about $30,000 worth of stolen merchandise was recovered and returned. They say 11 people have been arrested and charged with offences related to drugs and stolen property. Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said officers were able to make the arrests thanks to help from community members. 'Complaints from the community, combined with increased police presence by our 11 Division Community Incident Response Team (CIRT), enabled the dismantling of an organized crime group targeting commercial retail businesses and trafficking drugs," he said in a statement. "This investigation demonstrates the power of collaboration, and the vital role community trust plays in keeping our neighbourhoods safe.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
