Saudi arabia drugs
Saudi Arabia has foiled a major operation to smuggle drugs into the country. Image Credit: General Directorate of Narcotics Control, Saudi Arabia

Dubai: Saudi Arabia has foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 46.9 million tablets of amphetamine, in what is believed to be one of the biggest smuggling attempts of amphetamine into the Kingdom in a single operation, the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) announced.

According to a statement from the GDNC’s Major Mohammed Al Nujaidi, eight residents participating in the smuggling attempt were arrested, and 46,916,480 million amphetamine tablets concealed in a shipment of wheat sacks were seized.

The pills were confiscated at a warehouse after arriving through the dry port of Riyadh, Al Nujaidi said, adding that six Syrians and two Pakistanis were arrested after being found hiding in the warehouse.

Al Nujaidi noted that the quantity of the seized tablets is the “biggest of its kind in a single smuggling operation.”

He also reaffirmed that security forces “firmly and decisively” follow-up on the activities of criminal networks that target the security of the Kingdom and its people with drugs.