Customs officers at Dhuba Port in Tabuk have foiled an attempt to smuggle nearly 11 million amphetamine drug pills, Ali Al-Atwi, director of customs at the port, said in a statement on Monday.

He said the pills were hidden inside 14 heavy equipment, adding that the consignment came from a neighboring country by ship.

“Our officers found bags of amphetamine tablets inside them while inspecting the equipment,” Al-Atwi said while commending his officers for their vigilance and their ability to foil such smuggling attempts.

Al-Atwi did not say when the drug bust took place, but pointed out that it was one of the largest attempts to bring drug pills into the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is considered one of the major targets of drug barons. Saudi security forces have foiled several drug smuggling attempts in recent months.

Last month, they prevented an attempt to smuggle 526 kg of cocaine into the Kingdom through the Jeddah Islamic Port.

The cocaine consignment came from a South American country, said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry.

He said the police had taken measures to foil an attempt to bring a huge amount of high-quality cocaine into the Kingdom following a tipoff.

Saudi drug enforcement agencies set up a team to analyze the information and investigate its veracity. “Security agencies were then able to identify the shipment and the means of transport used for smuggling the drug into the Kingdom,” Al-Turki said.

The police found that the cocaine was hidden in a container of photocopier refills. The drug bust took place on June 7, where police seized 526.34 kg of pure cocaine.

“The incident shows the international dimension of drug smuggling targeting the Kingdom,” he said.