Manama: Kuwaiti police seized two huge shipments of amphetamine tablets in a new spectacular operation by the local security forces.

The operation seized 1.5 million tablets of the controlled drug Captagon with a street value of more than KD3 million stashed in two containers ostensibly carrying hardwood charcoal that arrived into the northern Arabian Gulf state from Ukraine.

Two foreigners, a Syrian and a Saudi, were apprehended in connection with the illegal shipments and will face legal action, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement carried by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) on Wednesday.

The two suspects admitted they brought in the large shipments of the drugs, the statement added.

Reports in Kuwait said that the Syrian national told the police that he had agreed with a Ukrainian gang to import drugs concealed in sacks of charcoal.

The Saudi joined in the deal after he was promised 500,000 Saudi Riyals, Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported on Thursday.

In his confessions, the Saudi national said that he had partners in Ukraine and that according to the operation plan, he would store the Captagon in Kuwait until he is contacted by other Saudis who would be in charge of smuggling the drugs into Saudi Arabia. He added that he was promised SR500,000 for his role.

The operation was praised by the interior minister.

“Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Shaikh Mohammad Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah oversaw the operation during a visit he made to the Interior Ministry's anti-drugs department,” the ministry said in the statement.

The minister hailed the aptitudes of the security forces, saying they were capable of dealing with all threats to the nation’s security.

"Our security men will always be relentless in their fight against drugs and their providers, and we will work on tackling them through all means. We will strike all those who seek to do harm to the country with an iron fist," Shaikh Mohammad was quoted as saying.