Saudi Arabia has suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon, claiming that the exports were used for drug smuggling and blaming Beirut for inaction. The decision declared on Friday, is a setback for Lebanon, which is experiencing its worst economic recession since the civil war of 1975-1990. Its agriculture minister called the move a "huge loss" and estimated that the exchange was valued at $24 million per year.

Mostly on the black market, the local currency has dropped by more than 85%, inflation is intense, and more than half of the population now lives below the poverty line. Its economic collapse is being exacerbated by political gridlock; with politicians refusing to form a coalition to access desperately needed international assistance.

According to the Saudi interior ministry, authorities have “noticed intensified drug smuggling operation hitting the kingdom from Lebanon especially in vegetable and fruit shipments.”

Riyadh will prohibit the entry or passage of such goods through the kingdom beginning Sunday at 9 a.m. local time, according to a report provided by the official SPA news agency. The sanctions will be in effect before Lebanon receives “sufficient and credible assurances” to end what it calls “systematic smuggling activities targeting the kingdom.” The announcement comes after Saudi authorities made persistent requests to their Lebanese counterparts on the topic, according to the SPA.

Saudi customs officials in Jeddah thwarted an effort to smuggle in more than 5.3 million Captagon pills concealed in pomegranate imports from Lebanon, according to Mohammed bin Ali al-Naim, Saudi Customs' assistant secretary for security affairs, according to the SPA. According to the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction, captagon is an amphetamine made in Lebanon and possibly also in Syria and Iraq, mostly for use in Saudi Arabia (OFDT).

According to Lebanese newspapers, Naeem Khalil, the president of the country's fruit and vegetable exporters, the confiscated shipment may not have been Lebanese but had been transported through Lebanon from Syria. According to the official National News Agency, Lebanon's foreign ministry was told by Saudi Arabia of its intention to suspend imports of fruits and vegetables.

“Lebanese authorities should make every attempt to monitor all smuggling operations... to protect innocent people, fishermen, industrialists, and the Lebanese economy,” the Lebanese foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement also urged all border enforcement and customs officials to make every attempt to monitor all smuggling.

Lebanon's caretaker interior minister, Mohammed Fahmy, informed Reuters that Lebanon was willing to work with all states to combat drug smuggling and that it had already made "great efforts," but that smugglers could succeed at times.

According to a Lebanese official who spoke on the requested anonymity, the prohibition seems to be political.

“The export of Lebanese vegetables and fruits to the Gulf countries, especially the [Saudi] kingdom, was one of the few remaining avenues for bringing dollars into the nation. “Closing this import line puts more strain on Lebanon,” he said.