Drug smuggling linked to terrorism targeting Saudis, envoy says

Cairo: Attempts to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia are linked to targeting the kingdom with terrorism, the Saudi envoy to Lebanon has said.

In April, Saudi Arabia announced a ban on Lebanese fruit and vegetable products, saying they were used in drug smuggling to the kingdom.

“Whoever targets the kingdom with drugs is a prime partner in the conspiracy of targeting it with terrorist acts,” Saudi Ambassador in Beirut Walid Bukhari added.

“Motives for the decision of halting imports of the Lebanese farm products are security in the first place,” added the envoy. “The aim is to maintain security of the kingdom and safety of its citizens and foreign residents as well as to limit hazards of drugs and its proliferation,” Bukhari added during a visit to the Lebanese newspaper Annahar.

He said that Saudi Arabia faces a “ferocious campaign” to smuggle and peddle drugs into its territory.

“The drug mafia bears responsibility for the ban on Lebanese farm exports to Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has said it will not import Lebanese fruit and vegetables or allow them to pass through its territory until the Lebanese authorities provide guarantees that their shipments will not be manipulated in smuggling drugs into the kingdom.