JEDDAH: Saudi security agents have arrested 19 drug smugglers, who opened fire on officers at a roadblock last year, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday. A police officer, Falah Salim Al-Qahtani, was killed and two other officers were wounded in the gunfight that took place at a checkpoint between Sharourah and Kharkhir in March 2007.
The smugglers opened fire on the officers who stopped the 19 smugglers, 18 of them Saudis, who were traveling in three vehicles.
A spokesman at the Interior Ministry said the smugglers were carrying 2,350 kg of hashish. "We have uncovered the drug smuggling gang and all those who helped them and gave them refuge. We have also confiscated the weapons and vehicles they used for the crime," the spokesman said, adding that the gang had previously smuggled more than 12 tons of hashish into the Kingdom.
