Syrian authorities intercept large cocaine shipment from Brazil

Syria’s interior ministry announced it thwarted an operation to smuggle large quantities of liquid cocaine into the country via the port of Latakia.

In a statement issued on Monday, the ministry said its anti-narcotics department had identified a suspicious shipment that had arrived on a ship originating from Brazil and seized its contents "before leaving the port".

Photos published on the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency show bags containing the illicit substance hidden inside dozens of cans of vegetable oil in what it described as a "sophisticated smuggling attempt to a neighbouring country".

Authorities say they’re investigating the incident and looking "to identify all those involved".

The incident comes on the same day that Syrian security forces thwarted an attempt to smuggle a shipment of weapons to Lebanon.

According to a security source cited by The New Arab’s sister publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the suspicious vehicle was travelling from the town of al-Jarajir, in the Damascus countryside, towards the Lebanese border.

Nine anti-tank guided missiles, 68 RPG rounds, two 107mm rockets and five boxes of ammunition were seized from the vehicle, according to the report.

The incidents come amid efforts by Syrian authorities to tackle the country’s continuing cross-border smuggling operations.

Although the scale of narcotics and weapons trafficking in the country appears to have declined from the peak years of the Assad-era war economy, international monitoring bodies consistently warn that entrenched smuggling networks, weak border governance and regional demand continue to sustain the trade, making trafficking a persistent issue at hand.