AND raids ‘Captagon laboratory’ in drug bust

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has raided a “laboratory” for allegedly manufacturing Captagon pills and arrested eight suspects in a “first of its kind case” in the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday. 

The Public Security Department (PSD) said that the AND personnel have been working for months to track the suspects after a tip-off.

During the preliminary investigation, the security personnel identified one of the suspects importing chemicals used to manufacture detergents and hiring foreign nationals to treat these chemicals in preparation of the pills, according to the PSD. 

The suspect had already begun to produce quantities of these materials in a rented place.

According to the PSD, AND personnel on Sunday evening raided a hangar in an industrial area in east Amman,  and arrested one suspect and seized tonnes of various chemicals that are processed to extract the basic materials involved in the production of narcotic pills.

Another team raided an apartment in the capital, which was used as storage for the narcotic pills, and found around 2 million Captagon pills and arrested another suspect there, Petra reported citing a PSD statement

The security personnel also arrested six other suspects involved including a foreigner.

Preliminary investigations indicated the suspects were allegedly planning to produce huge quantities for smuggling. 

The investigations also indicated that the seized chemicals are sufficient to produce over 100 million narcotic pills, according to Petra. Investigations were still ongoing.