Cairo: Saudi anti-drug police said they had seized 3.8 million amphetamine tablets in a swoop in the capital Riyadh as the kingdom is waging an unrelenting clampdown on drug smuggling and trafficking.
Eleven suspects – eight expatriates and three Saudis – were arrested in connection to the haul, said Major Marwan Al Hazami, the spokesman for the Saudi General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC).
They included seven Syrians and a Nepali national. The arrests were made in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Mecca, Al Qasim, Ha’il and Al Jouf, according to the official.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has thwarted a series of attempts to smuggle drugs into the country as part of what is dubbed a “war on drugs”.
Last week, Saudi customs authorities said they had foiled a bid to smuggle around 932,980 drug Captagon pills in a pomegranate shipment.
The haul was uncovered at the Saudi Duba port where the cargo coming from outside the kingdom had undergone customs procedures, the Saudi Zaka, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca) reported.
Two would-be recipients were arrested in connection with the attempt.
Earlier this month, Saudi customs officials said they had thwarted two attempts to smuggle 1.3 kg of heroin into the guts of two air travellers arriving in the kingdom.
The separate attempts were foiled at the King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah and the King Khaled Airport in Riyadh.
Saudi customs officials last month said they had foiled an attempt to smuggle 114.9 kilograms of hashish at a border crossing with Oman.
The haul had been hidden inside a pick-up truck coming to the kingdom via the Empty Quarter border crossing.
Zatca announced in August aborting at the Jeddah port an attempt to smuggle 2.2 million Captagon pills hidden into a cargo of baklava desserts. Two would-be recipients were arrested in connection to the haul.
In July, Saudi Arabia’s anti-drug police said they had thwarted in cooperation with their Omani counterpart an attempt to smuggle over 6 million amphetamine tablets hidden in a shipment of pastry, citrus and nuts.
Drug smuggling and trafficking is an offence punishable by up to death in Saudi Arabia.
