JEDDAH: Border guards in the southern region of Najran on Friday foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,205 kilograms of hashish into the Kingdom. Two smugglers were arrested after a gunbattle.
Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Zahrani, commander of the Border Guard in the region, said the two men in a car opened fire on his officers when they stopped them at a roadblock.
“Police returned fire and caught one of the men while the second escaped into a mountainous area but was caught within an hour,” Al-Zahrani said.
He said police had confiscated a number of guns and live ammunition from the car, adding that the smugglers were wearing military uniforms in order to mislead security officers at checkpoints.
The hazardous desert and mountainous terrain across the southern border have been the preferred route for smugglers wishing to bring explosives, arms and drugs into Saudi Arabia.
According to Border Guard sources at the Yemen border, security officials have made it very difficult for the smugglers to operate in the area.
In order to effectively counter smugglers the authorities recently constructed 450-kilometer border road.
