A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that 125 drug traffickers of various nationalities have been arrested with heroin, hashish and Captagon tablets during the period between mid-March and mid-May this year.

“This number includes 76 Saudis, 16 Yemenis, nine Pakistanis, four Syrians, four Iraqis, three Sudanese, three Egyptians, three Turks, two Omanis, one Kuwaiti, one Somali, one Eritrean, one Ethiopian and one Bangladeshi,” the spokesman told SPA.

He added that the arrests and operations took place across the Kingdom.

“In several preemptive operations, 22 Saudis, 11 Yemenis, three Turks, two Omanis, two Syrians, a Somali, a Bangladeshi and an Eritrean were arrested while delivering drugs to drug pushers in the Kingdom. We also managed to seize over 3.5 million amphetamine tablets and around 1.5 tons of hashish in those raids,” the spokesman said.

He added that the smuggled amphetamine tablets were hidden in heavy equipment, wooden floor cavities, vehicles and imported basalt stones.

Most of the hashish was seized out at sea and at the Kingdom’s borders. “Saudi security forces also foiled attempts to smuggle 4.3 tons of hashish by foreigners from abroad. Some of these traffickers have also been using trained animals. Four Iraqis, a Saudi and a Sudanese were arrested in such attempts,” said the spokesman.

Security men faced stiff resistance in some cases. “There were eight incidents of armed resistance that resulted in a policeman and six drug smugglers being injured. In such operations 41 Saudis, nine Pakistanis, five Yemenis, two Sudanese, an Egyptian and an Ethiopian were arrested,” he said.

Security officers also discovered a laboratory with equipment to manufacture amphetamine tablets in the northern part of the Kingdom.

The spokesman put the number of smugglers arrested with the collaboration of the Saudi Customs at 17. “These people were involved in bringing in 2.7 million amphetamine tablets. They included 12 Saudis, two Syrians, two Egyptians and a Kuwaiti,” he added.

The Kingdom views drug trafficking as a major crime and punishes smugglers with death.