Manama: Customs officers at the Saudi border at Al Haditha near Jordan have foiled an attempt to smuggle 49,000 Captagon tablets into the kingdom.
The banned tablets were concealed inside the vehicle’s coil wire sleeves, the head of customs at Al Haditha, Ebrahim Al Enezi, said.
“The vehicle with a private licence plate pulled into the area for customs, and while it was being searched, an officer discovered the tablets hidden inside the coiled sleeves normally used for electrical wires under the front and back seats and in the back sides of the vehicle,” Al Enezi said, Saudi news site Sabq reported on Tuesday.
Some more tablets were found inside the front bumper, he added.
“We followed the routine procedures in such cases and the smuggler was referred to the relevant authorities,” he said.
“It is obvious that the smuggler has tried to use some of the most delicate areas of the vehicle to conceal the Captagon tablets and attempt to smuggle them into the kingdom. However, despite the use of sleeves and tubes, the officer discovered them ... foiling the desperate attempt to fool him,” Al Enezi said.
The electrical wire sleeve ruse is the latest in the game of cat-and-mouse between Saudi border officers and smugglers.
Al Haditha border crossing often reports successes in foiling attempts to sneak drugs past the customs.
