JEDDAH: Customs officials at Al-Batha entry port foiled an attempt by a smuggler to bring in 23,364 Captagon capsules into the Kingdom.

According to Al-Batha Customs chief Abdul Rahman Al-Mahna, the pills were hidden in the backseat of a licensed vehicle.

Necessary procedures have been taken against the offender, he said.

Meanwhile in a sustained campaign against violation of health rules by restaurants and shops, the Jeddah municipality seized 90 tons of rotten or expired food items from the Sawareikh Market here on Wednesday.

Mohammed Al-Zahrani, head of the South Jeddah Municipality branch, said it was the second time this Ramadan that such a big quantity of food products were seized for violation of health norms.

In the beginning of Ramadan, Al-Zahrani and his team had seized and destroyed 67 tons of rotten or expired food items in Sawareikh, Rahmaniyah and Deira markets.

In Wednesday’s raid, 646 bags of different food items, 20 wooden boxes of Arabian potatoes and two ice cream cars were seized. He said two tons of used clothes, 840 bottles of hair gel, 114 tomato paste trays and hundreds of electronic items were destroyed.

Al-Zahrani said the municipality will continue its campaign and will not tolerate anyone playing with the health of people.

The municipality has urged citizens to report any irregularities at 940 or complain to the Secretariat through social networking sites.