Hamas seizes 50,000 Captagon pills in Gaza, blaming Israel as source

The Hamas-run Anti-Narcotics Police Department on Monday seized around 50,000 narcotic pills that were smuggled into the Gaza Strip, according to the interior ministry.

"Our policemen seized the high quantity of Fenethylline, better known as Captagon, hidden inside a shipment of goods imported to the Gaza Strip from Israel," the ministry said in a press statement.

"By using sniffer dogs, our policemen found the drugs inside a number of wooden scrapers that carried goods coming to the territory," the ministry added, noting that one of the suspects has been arrested and has identified others involved in the incident.

The ministry noted that the suspect was referred to the competent prosecution to complete the legal procedures duly, stressing that it is closely monitoring all the land and sea routes into the Gaza Strip.

Despite the fact that all life in Gaza has been negatively affected by the 16-year Israeli blockade, the narcotic trade witnessed a boom.

Usually, the drug traders smuggle their narcotics through Israeli and Egyptian crossings to be marketed in the Strip.

"90 per cent of the drugs seized inside the Gaza Strip come from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing," Anwar Zo'rob, an official at Anti-Narcotics Police Department, said to The New Arab.

"Israel prevents the importation of advanced screening devices into Gaza under the pretext of dual [civilian and military] use, which forces us to rely on traditional tools, mainly manual inspection with the help of police dogs to examine and search goods coming from Kerem Shalom once they enter the enclave," he added.

"Israel insists on flooding our region with drugs to destroy our youths and contribute to spreading the crimes among the population," Zo'rob opined. 

However, he stressed that “we will fight this phenomenon with all of our force by imposing severe penalties on drug traders.

In 2022, the Anti-Narcotic Department has seized 2,009 hashish bags; 7,958 tramadol tablets, 98,168 Captagon pills, 255,671 different narcotic pills, 8 kilograms of banjo,100 banjo seedlings; and 1,000 banjo seeds.