Customs seize counterfeit goods

The Saudi Customs seized 18.2 million pieces of counterfeit goods during the second quarter of the current year, an official statement said yesterday.
Abdullah Al-Kharboush, spokesman for Saudi Customs, told the Saudi Press Agency: “Although the quantity of the captured goods was a third higher than those seized during the quarter ending in March, the number of smuggling attempts fell by 16 percent.”
It was also noted 85 percent of confiscated goods violated quality specifications and trademark regulations.
Al-Kharboush said the success was due to the vigilance of customs officials.
Customs officials also used consultants to verify the originality of goods and strictly implemented compliance procedures. Customs inspectors also seized 734 kg of narcotic substances in addition to 8.7 million tablets such as Captagon and 60,000 bottles of liquor during the quarter, the officials said.
Major achievements of the department during the same period included preventing an attempt to smuggle 18,000 bottles of liquor hidden inside a truck carrying cooking oil in Batha.
The customs department in Hudaitha foiled an attempt to smuggle 2 million Captagon narcotic pills into the Kingdom in June.
At King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, an Egyptian lawyer who had allegedly hidden 21,380 narcotic pills in the packet of baby milk powder and cases of two copies of the Holy Qur’an was also detained.
In the first quarter of the year customs officers and other security forces foiled attempts to smuggle drugs worth more than SR 1.65 billion into the Kingdom and arrested 503 drug smugglers, according to the Interior Ministry.
It was also reported that 20 officers were injured in 43 operations against drug smugglers during the period beginning from December to the end of March.
One notable operation during that period led to the discovery of 100,000 amphetamine pills hidden in the island of Tiran off the coast of Tabuk after two Egyptians were questioned.
Customs officers also foiled an attempt by a gang comprising five Iranians and six Pakistanis to smuggle half a ton of hashish across the Gulf.
Meanwhile, local daily Okaz reported yesterday that the Prosecution and Investigations Commission investigated 70,598 cases last year, an increase of 4 percent on the previous year.
The report quoted a PIC source as saying 104,809 people were investigated at the main commission offices in Riyadh and its branch offices all over the Kingdom, a rise of 9 percent.
The source said Riyadh, with 18,736 cases and 27,993 accused, topped all other cities and regions. Jeddah had 11,903 cases and 21,226 defendants while Makkah had 8,465 cases and 12,691 accused.
The source explained there were 18,505 cases of violence involving 29,193 people while ethical cases numbered 28,540 with 42,796 accused.
He said there were 19,729 drug cases involving 27,031 people while finance-related cases numbered 3,824, involving 4,789 people.