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Podcast: Beyond the Headlines
Episode: The Middle East’s Captagon crisis
Description: In April 2021, customs officers in the Saudi city of Jeddah searched a shipment of Lebanese pomegranates. Hidden inside the fruit were more than five million circular, beige Captagon pills – illegal amphetamines.
It was the latest in a long line of interceptions in recent years that have seen officers in the kingdom stop millions of pills and tonnes of drugs being smuggled in.Â
But for Saudi Arabia, it was the final straw. The kingdom announced a ban on imported fruits and vegetables from Lebanon, dealing a huge blow to farmers already suffering from the country’s econom...