Cairo: Saudi customs officers had aborted an attempt to smuggle 2.4 million drug Captagon pills at the Red Sea port of Jeddah, the second such bid announced this month.
The Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca) said in a statement the haul had been found hidden in a shipment arriving to the kingdom via the port.
After the seizure, coordination was made with the General Directorate of Nacotics Control and six persons were later arrested in connection to the bid. It was not clear when exactly the haul was uncovered and the arrests were made.
Earlier this month, Zatca said an attempt to smuggle 1.2 million Captagon pills at a border crossing had been foiled.
That haul had been found inside a marble mixer consignment arriving at the Halat Ammar crossing near the border with Jordan. Two would-be recipients were arrested inside the kingdom.
Dismantled
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has stepped up its crackdown on narcotics smugglers and traffickers in what is dubbed the “war on drugs”, reporting a series of thwarted attempts.
This October, the Saudi Interior Ministry said the kingdom had uncovered and dismantled a ring involved in drug smuggling and trafficking in Riyadh including 16 government employees.
Twenty-one accused persons were arrested, including 16 employees at the ministries of the interior, the National Guard, defence, municipalities, and justice, a source at the ministry said.
Last month, Zatca said customs officers had thwarted the smuggling of nearly 55kg of cocaine that had been hidden in a banana shipment, the second such bid foiled in the kingdom in less than a month.
The latest attempt was thwarted at the King Abdullah port in the Rabigh governorate, part of the Mecca region, in a shipment from abroad.
Earlier in September, Saudi anti-drug police announced foiling an attempt to smuggle 236kg of cocaine that was hidden in a banana shipment. The haul was seized by the General Directorate of Narcotics Control in coordination with Zatca at the same port.
