ECSTASY PILLS BEARING GADDAFI'S IMAGE SEIZED IN LIBYA

TRIPOLI, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA-Reuters/ – Libyan authorities have seized a shipment of tens of thousands of ecstasy pills, each marked with the image of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, that had been smuggled into the country from Europe, security officials said.

Images released by a security agency in Tripoli showed bags filled with brown pills shaped like Gaddafi's head and shoulders, with his facial features and clothing embossed on them 2011.

A UN report published in January said Libya had become a major regional transit hub for synthetic drugs and other narcotics destined for local users and other parts of North Africa and the wider region.

Drug gangs have exploited the country's instability since 2011, when Gaddafi was ousted in a NATO-backed uprising that plunged Libya into a prolonged period of internal conflict and division.