Saudi Arabia busts attempt to smuggle 2m drug tablets at Jeddah port

Cairo: Saudi police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1.95 million tablets of narcotic amphetamine at the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the latest such reported bid in the kingdom.

The attempt was uncovered by the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) in coordination with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca), reported the Saudi news agency SPA.

The illicit substances were found hidden inside a furniture shipment at the port, it added. A recipient, identified as a Syrian expatriate, was arrested in Jeddah in connection with the bid.

Saudi Arabia recently intensified its crackdown on narcotics smugglers and traffickers in what is dubbed the “war on drugs”, and has reported a series of thwarted attempts over the past months.

Last week, Saudi customs authorities said they had foiled three attempts to smuggle more than 220,000 proscribed pills including Captagon drugs into the kingdom via border crossings.

In November, the Saudi anti-drug police said they had seized 2.4 million tablets of amphetamine in Riyadh. The haul had been found inside metal pipes. Two Syrian nationals were apprehended in connection with the case.

Also in November, Saudi authorities announced foiling an attempt to smuggle 11.9 million tablets of amphetamine at the Jeddah port.

The contraband had been hidden inside a container of gypsum board building materials.

In October, Saudi customs officers busted an attempt to smuggle 2.4 million Captagon pills also at the Jeddah port. The haul had been found hidden in a shipment arriving to the kingdom via the port.

Drug smuggling and trafficking is an offence punishable by up to death in Saudi Arabia.