2.6 million Keptagon drug pills captured in Hodeidah

Yemeni Police have confiscated large drug shipments of Keptagon.

The police of Hodiedah governorate on the western coast of Yemen, captured a large shipment of drugs, loaded in a van, on the highway linking al-Qanawes district to al-Zaydia district 60 kilometers to the north of Hodeidah city last Tuesday, said a security source in Hodiedah security office.  The drugs shipment contained 361,000 tablets of Keptagon, a prohibited drug.

“The police chased the van loaded with drugs for an hour before they could capture it. However the van driver ran away before the police reached the van,” said the security source.

The same source added that the capture of this drug shipment happened two days after the Hodeidah security sources foiled an attempt to smuggle 2.3 million tablets of Keptagon hidden in water heaters. However the source did not mention the smuggled drugs country of origin or the names of the people involved in the attempt.

The security source, who preferred to remain anonymous, believed that both drug shipments were on their way to Saudi Arabia.

“Such drugs are not used by Yemenis who have their own favored drug Qat”, said the source. Last June, the United Nations awarded Yemen the organization’s 2008 shield in appreciation of its role in combating drug trafficking.

In a communiqué, the organization said that Yemen has been offered this international certificate in appreciation for its successful efforts in fighting drug trafficking as well as for the constructive roles of the security and armed forces.

The honor came in the wake of the government’s efforts to cooperate with the international community to confront the corrosive effects of drug use.

In a related issue, the Ministry of Interior’s authorities captured 17 tons and 970 kilograms of hashish, as well as 468,000 narcotic pills during the last five months An official report announced that drug crimes increased in 2007 to 140 with 226 suspects, in comparison to 45 crimes and 86 suspects in 2005.

The report disclosed that the number of Yemenis suspected of involvement in drug trafficking increased in 2007 to 204 compared to 81 in 2005. The numbers of foreign drug dealer suspects were 5 in 2005 and 22 in 2007.

The report added that 511 individuals were charged with drug dealing in the country in the last three years. The suspects included 469 Yemenis and 42 foreigners.

The amount of the seized hashish during the last three years amounted to 9,642 kilograms, with 3,004 kilograms seized in 2005, another 2,082 in 2006 and 4,555 in 2007 together with the confiscation of 112 hashish plants.

The narcotic pills seized in the same period totaled 802,944; most of them were caught in 2007. In 2005, the number of pills seized was 791,469, however only 6,500 pills were confiscated in 2004, in addition to 535 liters of ether acetyl. 

The report announced that the total quantity of drugs destroyed in Sa’adah and Taiz in 2006 were 22.2 kilograms of heroin, 1,647,952 kilograms of hashish, 200 grams of hashish seeds, 41,039 narcotic pills and 7,856 amphetamine pills. 

The amount of drugs destroyed in al-Mahara in 2007 mounted to 1,542,500 kilograms of hashish.

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