Saudi Arabia: Foiled smuggling of 3.6 million drug pills and nearly 3 tons of hashish

Saudi authorities have thwarted the smuggling of 3.6 million controlled and restricted narcotic pills and 2.8 tons of hashish in several regions of the Kingdom, carried out by approximately 2,000 smugglers holding Yemeni, Ethiopian, and Saudi nationalities.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the Saudi Border Guard Directorate foiled smuggling attempts involving 942,485 pills of the narcotic substance amphetamine, nearly 2.7 million pills subject to medical trade regulations, 2.8 tons of narcotic hashish, and 138 tons of the narcotic khat plant.

It added that authorities arrested the smugglers in the regions of Tabuk (in the north) and Jazan, Asir, and Najran (in the southwest of the Kingdom), without disclosing the duration during which the smugglers were apprehended.

The Ministry of Interior called on citizens and residents to proactively report any information they have regarding any activities related to drug smuggling or trafficking, “noting that all reports are treated with complete confidentiality, with no liability whatsoever on the part of the reporter.”