Manama: Saudi women were involved in less than one third of women’s drug-related cases in the kingdom this year, statistics indicate.
According to a justice ministry report, Saudi women made up 28 per cent of the cases reviewed by the courts of law and related to the possession, use, smuggling and selling of drugs.
The remaining 62 per cent of the women were from 24 nationalities, with Yemenis topping the list with 29.3 per cent, followed by Somalis with 23.9 per cent, local Arabic daily Al Sharq reported on Sunday.
The capital Riyadh was at the top of the 34 cities where drug cases were reviewed. Drug possession and smuggling were the most common drug crimes in the city. However, in Jizan and Abha, both in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, the possession of Qat, a leafy narcotic popular in neighbouring Yemen and in certain areas of Africa, was the most widespread drug use crime.
According to the ministry report, men were involved in around 41,000 drug cases reviewed by 34 courts throughout the Saudi kingdom.
The number of cases for Saudis was 23,946 and 10,228 for non-Saudis. Yemenis again topped with 6,833 (66.8 per cent), followed by Egyptians with 673 cases.
Saudi Arabia has a very strict policy towards drugs and foreigners are regularly warned about legal consequences of involvement in the use or sale of narcotics.
