Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said three different operations took place in various parts of the Kingdom, leading to the arrests and drug seizures. He did not say when the operations were carried out. The arrested included 108 Saudis and 59 foreigners.

In the first operation, security officers nabbed 94 smugglers, including 59 Saudis, eight Syrians, six Yemenis, one Turk, a Sudanese, and an Egyptian in addition to 18 intruders who could not be identified.

"These people were involved in smuggling, trafficking and selling more than eight million Captagon tablets, which they had hidden in a professional manner inside metallic devices, women's clothes and equipment used for making sweets and pastries," Al-Turki said.

In the second operation, police arrested 72 people including 49 Saudis, 11 Yemenis, a Syrian and an Indian as well as 10 unidentified intruders for smuggling and selling more than 2,727 kilograms of hashish.

Twenty-nine Pakistanis were arrested in the third operation for trafficking and attempting to sell over 20 kilograms of heroin.

Al-Turki added that the operations were carried out in coordination with customs officials.

He said security officers would continue their efforts to combat drugs in order to protect society from the danger of narcotics that have destroyed many families in the country. "Those who are involved in drug smuggling and trafficking will be given the toughest punishments," the spokesman said.

Last month, police arrested three men and seized a large quantity of Captagon tablets in a drug bust in Makkah's Taneem district. In March 2009, police detained more than 35 suspected drug traffickers who tried to smuggle 1,768 kilograms of hashish and 3.4 million amphetamine tablets into the Kingdom.