Iraq seizes more than one tonne of captagon pills shipped from Syria

Captagon is one of the most popular recreational drugs

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Iraq's security forces have seized an estimated 1.1 tonne of captagon pills hidden inside a truck that entered Iraq from Syria via Turkey, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The drug shipment, the largest ever seized in Iraq, was tracked and intercepted with the assistance of "important information" provided by Saudi's drug enforcement agency, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Brigadier Muqdad Meri said in a televised statement.

Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria.

Captagon - a mix of amphetamines also known as the "poor man’s cocaine" - is one of the most popular recreational drugs among affluent youth in the Middle East.