Meth 'shabu' now among the three most-used drugs in Saudi Arabia, UNODC assesses

UNODC's World Drug Report 2026 assesses methamphetamine — 'shabu' — as one of the three most-used drugs in Saudi Arabia, alongside cannabis and captagon, as displaced users shifted after captagon prices doubled. Iran intercepted 3,663 kg of meth bound for Europe and the Persian Gulf in Q1 2026 alone.

The shift is an economics story: when Syria's captagon industrial base fragmented after December 2024, tablet prices roughly doubled in several Gulf markets. Suppliers and users moved to methamphetamine, which is longer-acting, more potent per milligram, and more neurotoxic with repeated use than the amphetamine pills it replaces.

Iran's Q1 2026 interception of 3,663 kg of methamphetamine bound for Europe and the Persian Gulf shows the route scale. Kuwait has dismantled domestic meth labs, including a March 2023 syndicate of six brothers producing meth while trafficking captagon, heroin and hashish.

For harm reduction: stimulant overdose is a cardiovascular/heat event with no antidote — naloxone does not apply. Watch for sleep disruption, weight loss, and paranoia as early signs of a switch from pills to 'shabu'.

Help in the region: UAE Hisn/Mukafih 800 44 (24/7, legal exemption for voluntary treatment) · Qatar Naufar +974 4494 6000 · Kuwait MoH +965 2462 1770.