Saudi law enforcers have arrested 991 drug trafficking suspects during the last five months in an unrelenting campaign against what is now considered a "new form of terrorism," the Ministry of Interior said on Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, ministry spokesman, said 337 of the suspects were Saudis and 654 were foreigners from 33 countries.

Al-Turki said “all those arrested were involved in trafficking narcotics in huge quantities with a market value exceeding SR2.5 billion.”

“The Kingdom has identified drug trafficking as a top national security threat linked to militancy in the region and has put its powerful security organs in charge of fighting it,” he told a news conference.

“We are waging a war and it is a war against a new form of terrorism, drug trafficking,” Al-Turki added.

He said security men often faced “armed resistance from drug traffickers and smugglers” in different security operations, which resulted in the injury of 19 security men and three deaths.

The confiscated packages included 7.9 kilograms of raw heroin, 1.3 kg of processed heroin ready for distribution, 20.29 tons of hashish, 15,293,189 capsules of amphetamines, 2.33 kg of cocaine, SR14.45 million in cash, 350 pieces of machine guns, 136 pistols, 29 guns and 7,580 rounds of munition.

Al-Turki cited the cooperation between the customs department and security agencies of the Kingdom in hunting down traffickers and criminals.

A press statement released by the ministry on Wednesday said a law enforcement patrol in the southern province of Jazan seized 50 pistols and live cartridges from smugglers.

In another incident, a road security patrol in Jazan chased a suspected car. When the car, driven by a Saudi national accompanied by his wife, was pulled over and inspected, security men were astonished to find 125 handguns, added the statement.

The handguns were seized immediately and the Saudi nationals carrying the weapons were arrested on the spot.

Al-Turki said the Kingdom has renewed its resolve to fight not only drug trafficking but also money laundering, terrorism and other forms of cross-border crimes.