Attempt to smuggle 4m pills into Aqaba port foiled

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have foiled an attempt to smuggle over 4 million illegal narcotic pills through the Aqaba port and arrested several suspects, the Public Security Department (PSD) said on Tuesday. 

AND cadres learned that a large number of pills were to be smuggled into the Kingdom in secret compartments of refrigerators storing fruit on a cargo ship arriving at the port, the PSD said in a statement.  

When the ship arrived, AND personnel searched the refrigerators and found 722,000 pills, the PSD said, adding that one suspect, an Arab national, was arrested.  

The anti-drugs police then arrested the person who was supposed to receive the shipment in a sting operation. 

An investigation led to the discovery of three other ships carrying illegal pills, stored in refrigerators, which arrived at the port at different times. 

In one refrigerator, 12 hidden compartments were found containing 1.5 million pills, while two other ships were found to be transporting 1 million pills each. 

In total, five suspects were arrested, including four Arab nationals, and 4,322,000 narcotic pills were confiscated, the PSD said.