BEIRUT: The Kingdom’s security is a red line, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Al-Bukhari said on Monday.
His tweet came after Saudi Arabia’s decision to ban the import and transit of vegetables and fruits from Lebanon starting Sunday.
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported over the weekend that Jeddah Islamic Port’s customs authorities seized more than 5.3 million Captagon pills secretly hidden in a pomegranate consignment that arrived from Beirut.
“The Kingdom’s security under our wise leadership is a red line that cannot be messed with,” Al-Bukhari said in the tweet on Monday evening.
Meanwhile Al-Bukhari said on Sunday that in the past six years there were attempts to smuggle more than 600 million pills from Lebanon.
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun asked the security services on Monday to step up operations against smuggling.
Aoun made his comments at the start of a meeting on the matter with caretaker prime minister Hassan Diab.
Interior minister Mohammad Fehmi was tasked to coordinate with Saudi Arabia to uncover the culprits and prevent a repeat of the previous incidents.
Lebanon also asked its public prosecutor to follow up with investigations on the issue and keep Saudi officials informed of results, said a presidential statement.
