Manama: Saudi authorities have reminded travellers to and from Saudi Arabia to ensure they do not carry an aggregate amount exceeding 60,000 Saudi Riyals (Dh58,761) after the arrest of a Yemeni national.
The reminder was issued by Ziyad Al Balawi, the acting head of customs in Tiwal at the Saudi-Yemen border days after the Yemeni was apprehended while smuggling more than five million riyals.
“Travellers have to declare the cash and the precious metals they have if their amount exceeds SR60,000,” he said.
“We are aware that smugglers are always looking for novel ways to take in or out large amounts of cash or precious items. The anti-money laundering law is very clear about it,” he said in remarks published by local news site Sabq on Monday.
He said that the declaration just needed to fill in a form available at the border post.
The Yemeni national had hidden the large amount of cash in the spare tyre of the private car he was using with his family. “A customs officer became suspicious about the driver and thoroughly checked the car to discover the cash inside the tyre,” Al Balawi said.
“We are certainly proud of the officers who exert tremendous efforts to defeat all attempts by smugglers to break the law,” he said.
The police in Jizan in the south of the kingdom launched an investigation to determine the source of the money. The Saudi Yemen border, around 1,800 kilometres long, is one of the most challenging frontiers to monitor due to its difficult nature.
