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Robert Fisk on Saudi Prince busted with 40 suitcases of drugs at Beirut airport
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of CBC (Canada's public broadcasting system)
Posted: November 8th, 2015
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-e...
Earlier this week, Saudi Prince Abdul Mohsen bin Walid bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud was arrested in Lebanon. According to reports, the prince and four other Saudis were attempting to fly out of the Beirut airport in a private jet - chock full of drugs. "Apparently most of it was called Captagon ... a kind of amphetamine," [said Robert Fisk], Middle East correspondent for the Independent newspaper. He says that a customs guard at Beirut airport became suspicious when the prince showed up with 40 suitcases. Fisk explains, "So he said, 'You put the baggage through the x-ray machine,' and the Saudi said, 'No, no, I have a diplomatic passport,' and he said, 'You have a diplomatic passport but the baggage does not have diplomatic clearance." The prince was immediately detained. "The photographs which have been leaked out, show boxes, very large boxes with the Saudi royal coat of arms on the front which is a bit unfortunate," Fisk quips. "I think what's actually happening is that the Lebanese do not want to embarrass the Saudis." According to Fisk, the story has already disappeared from the papers and it is still unclear where the drugs were intended to be delivered. "This after all, is a state that chops off the heads of drug traffickers usually from poor countries like Pakistan or Sri Lanka," Fisk adds. "They certainly don't want too much publicity when a Prince is suddenly found possessing all this stuff and trying to cheat his way through the airport."
Note: Despite being caught red-handed in what may be Lebanon's biggest drug bust ever, Fisk believes this royal prince will escape punishment. Remember Saudi Arabia is run by the royal family. How many other governments are secretly involved in drug running? Reports from 25-year veteran of the DEA turned best-selling author and journalist Michael Levine point towards a troubling answer.
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