--- title: Saudi Royal Among Those Detained in Beirut Drug Bust description: Involving two tons of Captagon pills, it was the largest-ever smuggling operation uncovered at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport canonical: https://time.com/4087255/saudi-beirut-captagon-drug/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-26T16:42:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:08.808Z article:section: World og:title: Saudi Royal Among Those Detained in Beirut Drug Bust og:description: The operation involved two tons of Captagon pills og:url: https://time.com/4087255/saudi-beirut-captagon-drug/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c10b0fe911f68d0/698869daab6d779adf6a6d74/rafik-hariri-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Rafik Hariri International Airport og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Saudi Royal Among Those Detained in Beirut Drug Bust twitter:description: The operation involved two tons of Captagon pills twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c10b0fe911f68d0/698869daab6d779adf6a6d74/rafik-hariri-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Saudi Royal Detained After 2 Tons of Drugs Found on Private Jet by [Cassandra Vinograd and Mustafa Kassem / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Cassandra Vinograd and Mustafa Kassem / NBC News Oct 26, 2015 4:42 PM CUT  Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon on June 19, 2006. Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon on June 19, 2006.DigitalGlobe/Getty Images by [Cassandra Vinograd and Mustafa Kassem / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Cassandra Vinograd and Mustafa Kassem / NBC News Oct 26, 2015 4:42 PM CUT A member of the Saudi royal family and four others were detained after authorities discovered two tons of drugs on a private jet in Beirut on Monday, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency and a government official. The National News Agency [said smugglers were attempting to transport](http://nna-leb.gov.lb/en/show-news/51709/Five-Saudis-fail-to-smuggle-two-tons-of-Captagon-into-Riyadh-via-Beirut-airport "undefined") the “huge quantity” of Captagon pills — 40 bags worth — to the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Monday’s bust was the largest-ever smuggling operation uncovered at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to the news agency. It said the five Saudi nationals held were being questioned. Col. Joseph Musalem, a spokesman for Lebanon’s ministry of… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-royal-four-others-detained-beirut-captagon-bust-n451486?cid=par-time%5F20151026 "undefined") ### Inside a Saudi Arabian Oil Giant's American Oasis  Families relax by “The Pond” at sunset. “The Pond” is on the North East corner of the Dhahran Golf Course in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Ayesha Malik  A mother waves goodbye to her daughter on Lemon Circle as she leaves for Dhahran School on the school bus at 7am. Aramco schools are all located within the compound. Ayesha Malik  Dhahran Commissary is located near the main office area. Generally, it gets busy around 4pm when people leave work. Ayesha Malik  A female employee of Saudi Aramco. Ayesha Malik  A major oil facility under construction in Jubail Industrial City. This is a Joint Venture between Saudi Aramco and a foreign oil company. Jubail is located on the East coast and is the largest petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia. Ayesha Malik  Workers at an oil facility construction site in Jubail. Ayesha Malik  Workers brave the extreme temperature of the desert, sometimes above 120 degrees farenheit, to keep Dhahran’s landscape green and pristine. Ayesha Malik  Nurses from Dhahran Health Center wait for a bus after work in front of the Commissary. Saudi Aramco’s health center was first operated by the company itself, but since 2014, it became Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, the first-of-its-kind health care joint venture between Saudi Aramco, a world leader in energy, and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Ayesha Malik  Saudi Aramco Beach, “Half Moon Bay,” Azizyah. This is a private beach for Saudi Aramco employees and their guests. Ayesha Malik  Sahrr sits on her car after driving out to the jebels on the Western side of Dhahran. In Arabic, jebel means mountain or hill. Many Aramcons use the term to refer to large rocky areas. While women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, they are allowed to drive within Aramco compounds, including Dhahran, the largest of them all. Ayesha Malik  A city of oil tanks, one of many tank farms in the Eastern Province. Ayesha Malik  A translplanted American “Bluebird” school bus is used to transport workers. These buses are a common site in Saudi Arabia. Some of them still have the name of the original American school district. Ayesha Malik  Two boys wait for their turn at a skate competition at the local skate park in Dhahran Hills. Ayesha Malik  Mr. Embleton is a Canadian expatriate working for Saudi Aramco Public Relations. Sometimes, he chooses to wear a traditional Saudi thobe and guthra to work. Ayesha Malik  Saudi Aramco CEO’s displayed at the local Heritage Gallery. Ayesha Malik  US Maps colored and labeled by Dhahran Middle School students in a geography assignment. Education has always been part of Saudi Aramco’s legacy. Ayesha Malik; Saudi Aramco World Digital Image Archive, SAWDIA  A woman poses in a contemporary, yet traditionally inspired, Middle Eastern dress. Ayesha Malik  An onlooker wears his Texans Santa hat at the annual Returning Student Co-ed Softball game during Christmas time in Dhahran. Aramco schooling runs from kindergarten to ninth grade. After this time, schooling is generally continued overseas or in one of the nearby international schools. Ayesha Malik  A gardner works in the backyard at a home in Dhahran. Ayesha Malik  The Dhahran skyline. When Aramco first began, palm trees were flown in from the United States. 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