ABHA/TABUK, 11 March — Security authorities have arrested 23 people in Tabuk and Abha for allegedly stealing cars and robbing houses and shops in the two cities.
A 19-member gang in Tabuk confessed that they had committed 176 robberies.
Brig. Naif Al-Anazi, director of the department of crimes, said police arrested the 19 criminals along with the valuables they had stolen.
The gang had also stolen sheep and camels. He said the gang members were arrested while they were taking a stolen car to the desert to set it on fire after stripping it down.
Four youths, aged between 18 and 23, were arrested in Uhd Al-Rafeeda, 20 kilometers south of Khamis Mushayt, for alleged involvement in robbery of government cars.
The police nabbed the four-member gang after closely following their movements and activities. They also confiscated a Nissan Altima car, one of the three government cars they had stolen. Khamis Mushayt police registered the confessions of the four.
A security source told Arab News that the four were also involved in other burglaries in the city. Last Tuesday they broke into the Nissan car that was parked in front of the house of a government employee in the Shabaa district of Khamis Mushayt.
Security authorities in the city had earlier arrested a 12-member gang of youths, aged between 16 and 19, that specialized in breaking into cars.
Drug runners arrested: Anti-drug officials in Najran said yesterday that they have arrested a number of people for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotics into the country.
Officials arrested a man trying to smuggle in 854 Captagon tablets, Saudi Press Agency said. They also arrested a number of people and seized 300 kilograms of qat, an intoxicating plant banned in the Kingdom, and 41.35 grams of hashish from them.
Meanwhile, the border guards in Najran foiled attempts to smuggle 107 bottles of alcohol, 147 kg of explosives, 151 guns, five Kalashnikovs and a large quantity of ammunition.
