Beirut airport foils drug smuggling attempt to Egypt

Lebanese authorities at Rafik Hariri International Airport foiled Monday an attempt to smuggle drugs to Cairo, Egypt.

Security sources told The Daily Star that Ahmad Mohammad Abu al-Majd, an Egyptian, was caught by customs officers as he tried to smuggle 1,450 narcotic pills in his luggage.

The pills, hidden in glass containers, were the equivalent of 2 kilograms of drugs, the sources said.

They said Majd, 23, was referred to the Mount Lebanon Drug Control Office for further interrogation.

In October, a similar attempt to smuggle 9 kilograms of narcotic pills to the United Arab Emirates was thwarted.

Last week, the Lebanese Army also arrested a man in north Lebanon while trying to smuggle 200,000 narcotic pills to the Gulf by land.