A Saudi man convicted of transporting drugs from Iraq to the Kingdom using a glider has been sentenced to 15 years and 1,600 lashes. An appeal court in Hail has endorsed the verdict issued by the general court.

The 30-year-old man was accused of planning and training individuals to use the glider for smuggling drugs into the Kingdom.

He was arrested in 2011 after the Border Guard uncovered the operation. Police found about 700,000 amphetamine pills on board the glider.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested three Saudis for transporting 170 imported bottles of liquor to Makkah. Highway police stopped their minibus along the Riyadh-Taif Expressway after they noticed that there were no passengers in the vehicle.

They told the police that they were transporting the alcohol for a person in Makkah for SR20,000. The highway police handed the three youths and the alcohol to the Ridwan police station.