Libyan security officials recently seized a shipment containing around 100,000 ecstasy pills marked with Muammar Gaddafi's face at a Libyan port. The drugs were smuggled from Europe and intercepted by agents of Al Rada for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime in Tripoli on September 13. This seizure highlights Libya’s role as a major transit hub for synthetic drugs due to the country’s instability following Gaddafi’s ousting in 2011, according to a U.N. report from January.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-13,
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Story summary
Libyan authorities seized tens of thousands of ecstasy pills stamped with Muammar Gaddafi's face in early September. The drugs, smuggled into Libya from Europe, were discovered after security agents received intelligence that a gang was planning to ship them by sea. Al Rada for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime, a security agency under the Tripoli-based Presidential Council, confirmed this in a statement released on Saturday.
The seized pills were molded into the shape of Gaddafi's head and shoulders, including his distinct facial features and robes. Libya has become a significant transit point for synthetic drugs due to the country’s instability since 2011 when Gaddafi was overthrown during a NATO-backed uprising, leading to prolonged conflict and division.
According to a January report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, drug gangs are exploiting this volatile situation to smuggle narcotics into North Africa and beyond.
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Drugs marked with Gaddafi's face seized in Libya
CAIRO, Sept 13 - Libyan authorities have seized a shipment of tens of thousands of ecstasy pills, each marked with the face of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi and smuggled in from Europe, security officials said.
asserted
officials → mark → Europe
Images released by a security agency in Tripoli showed sacks of brown pellets that were moulded into the shape of Gaddafi's head and shoulders, with the lines of his distinctive features and robes pressed into their surface.
asserted
lines → release → surface
Libya has become a major regional transit hub for synthetic drugs and other narcotics on their way to local users and other parts of North Africa and the wider continent, according to a U.N. report released in January.
uncertain
Libya → become → January
Drug gangs were taking advantage of the tumultuous situation in the country since 2011, said the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
asserted
report → take → Drugs
That year, Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising, plunging Libya into a prolonged period of internal conflict and division.
asserted
Gaddafi → topple → conflict
Security agents got a tip-off that a gang was planning to send the drugs by sea and tracked the shipment until it arrived, read the statement issued late on Saturday from Al Rada for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime, a security agency under the Tripoli-based Presidential Council.
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statement → get → Council
Officers intercepted the shipment after it arrived and found the pills hidden in a cargo van, the statement added.
"The operation yielded a total of approximately 100,000 'XTC' (Ecstasy) pills," and a number of suspects were referred to prosecutors, it said.
asserted
it → intercept → prosecutors
The pills had come via a European country and arrived at a Libyan port, the agency added, without naming either.
asserted
agency → come → either
Tripoli's Presidential Council has acted as head of state since a U.N.-facilitated dialogue with the U.N.-recognised Government of National Unity in 2021.
asserted
Council → act → 2021
Libya remains divided between the GNU in the west and authorities under military commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east and much of its south.
asserted
who → divide → south
