Cairo: Saudi customs authorities said they had thwarted an attempt at the Jeddah port to smuggle 888,000 Captagon drug pills, the latest such bids to smuggle narcotics into the kingdom.
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) added in a statement that the haul had been stowed into a consignment of construction pastes.
On checking the shipment by security devices at the port, the haul was found elaborately hidden into cavities of the paste containers, it said.
Saudi Arabia has announced foiling a string of drug smuggling attempts in recent months.
Last month, ZATCA announced uncovering an attempt to smuggle 2.3 million Captagon pills at a border crossing into the kingdom,
In October, ZATCA customs officers foiled an attempt to smuggle over 12 million Captagon pills, which were hidden inside a coca shipment at the Jeddah port.
Drug smuggling and trafficking is an offence punishable by up to death in Saudi Arabia.
