사우디 왕자, 레바논서 ‘시리아 반군들 즐기는 마약’ 캡타곤 밀반입 혐의로 체포
* ‘아시아엔’ 연수 외국기자가 작성한 기사의 한글요약본과 원문을 함께 게재합니다.
[아시아엔=라드와 아시라프 기자·번역 최정아 기자] 사우디아라비아(사우디) 왕자를 포함한 5명이 레바논 베이루트 공항에서 2톤에 달하는 마약(코카인·캡타곤)을 밀반입하려한 혐의로 26일(현지시간) 체포됐다.
<AP>는 “사우디의 압둘 모센 빈 와리드 빈 압둘라지즈 왕자를 포함한 일행이 마약 밀반입 혐의를 받고 있다”며 “밀반입을 시도한 마약의 양은 총 2톤으로, 베이루트 공항에 마약 밀반입 사건 중 사상 최대 규모다”라고 보도했다.
캡타곤은 일종의 각성제로, 중동에서 주로 사용된다. 이에 대해 <AP>는 “캡타곤은 특히 시리아 반군들이 주로 사용하고 있는 마약”이라고 전했다. 이들은 2014년 4월에도 캡타곤 1500만 캡슐을 베이루트에서 밀반입하려다 보안당국에 적발된 적이 있다.
이외에도 사우디 왕자들은 1999년, 2007년, 2010년 마약을 밀반입하려다 적발돼 언론에서 폭로됐지만, 단 한 번도 처벌을 받지 않았다.
Saudi prince caught ‘with two tons of drugs’ at Lebanese airport
A Lebanese official says Beirut airport authorities have foiled one of the country’s largest drug smuggling attempts, seizing two tonnes of the amphetamine fenethylline (Captagon) before they were loaded on to the private plane of a Saudi prince.
Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were detained by airport security while allegedly “attempting to smuggle about two tons of Captagon pills and some cocaine,” a security source told AFP.
“The smuggling operation is the largest one that has been foiled through the Beirut International Airport,” the source said. The security source added that the drugs had been packed into cases that were waiting to be loaded onto a private plane that was headed to Saudi Arabia. According to security sources, the five Saudi citizens were still in the airport and would be questioned by Lebanon’s customs authority.
A similar attempt happened in April 2014, as security forces foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 million capsules of Captagon hidden in shipping containers full of corn from Beirut’s port.
Captagon pills, which typically contain amphetamine and caffeine, are consumed widely in the Middle East and has reportedly been widely used by fighters in Syria, as AFP reports.
Captagon, originally the trade name for the synthetic stimulant fenetylline, was first produced in the 1960s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression. However, it was banned in most countries by the 1980s because of it was too addictive, according to a BBC report.