An Egyptian was also arrested recently for making purchases with a stolen credit card.

“The suspect was arrested by the Narcotics Control unit,” said Jeddah police spokesman Col. Misfer Al-Juaid, referring to the Arab national. “It was while they were searching the suspect that they found he was carrying more than SR13,000 worth of counterfeit bills.”

Al-Juaid said the suspect confessed to investigators that aside from his drug dealing he was also selling counterfeit currency. Police did not say what kind of drugs he was selling. Hashish and stimulant pills sold under the defunct commercial brand name Captagon (fenethylline) are common illegal drugs confiscated by anti-drug authorities in the Kingdom. The nationality of the man was not provided.

In a separate incident, an Egyptian man in his 20s was arrested in Al-Zahra district on suspicion he used a stolen US credit card to purchase a number of electronic devices from different stores.

“The arrest came after several calls by local electronic shops reporting the suspect for purchasing goods using the stolen card,” said Al-Juaid.

Investigators were able to track down and arrest the suspect, who is currently held at Al-Salama police station.

It is not known if the US-issued card was stolen locally. In 2007, Arab News reported that a Bank of America credit card that had been issued to a woman in the state of Maine had been stolen from the mail, activated over the phone and sent to Saudi Arabia within 11 days of the date the bank mailed the card inside the United States. The incident suggests a global racket involving cards stolen from the mail in the US being activated and then shipped quickly to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to use cards before the thefts have been discovered by the recipients or the issuers.