RIYADH: Saudi Customs officers seized 20,376 bottles of assorted liquor about to be smuggled into the kingdom on Saturday.

A report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the contraband goods were confiscated at the Al-Batha Customs in the Eastern Border along the kingdom’s border with the United Arab Emirates.

The liquor were hidden in a truck carrying a consignment of ginger, said the report, quoting customs officials in Al-Batha.

The report did not say how many smugglers were arrested.

Despite the heavy penalty for alcohol smuggling, the nefarious trade persists in the kingdom.