Drugs featuring Gaddafi's image have been confiscated in Libya

Libyan authorities have confiscated a shipment containing tens of thousands of ecstasy pills, each emblazoned with the image of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, which were smuggled in from Europe, according to security officials.

Images released by a security agency in Tripoli displayed sacks of brown pellets shaped like Gaddafi's head and shoulders, with the contours of his distinctive features and robes imprinted on their surface.

According to a U.N. report released in January, Libya has emerged as a significant regional transit hub for synthetic drugs and other narcotics destined for local users and various regions across North Africa and the broader continent.

The report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime indicated that drug gangs have been exploiting the chaotic circumstances in the country since 2011. That year, Gaddafi was overthrown in a NATO-supported uprising, leading Libya into an extended phase of internal strife and fragmentation.

Security agents received a tip-off regarding a gang's plan to transport drugs by sea and monitored the shipment until its arrival, according to a statement released late on Saturday by Al Rada for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime, a security agency under the Tripoli-based Presidential Council.

Officers intercepted the shipment upon its arrival and discovered the pills concealed in a cargo van, the statement added. "The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately 100,000 'XTC' (Ecstasy) pills," and several suspects were referred to prosecutors, it said. The pills had arrived at a Libyan port after coming from a European country, the agency noted, without specifying either location.

Since a U.N.-facilitated dialog with the U.N.-recognized Government of National Unity in 2021, Tripoli's Presidential Council has served as the head of state.

Libya continues to be split between the Government of National Unity in the west and the forces led by military commander Khalifa Haftar, who governs the east and a significant portion of the south.