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.
