JEDDAH: A Saudi border patrol had seized 37.5 kilograms of hashish from drug traffickers during a clash that ended with one killed on each side in Jazan on Thursday.
A spokesman of General Directorate of Border Guards on Friday said the patrolling officers were tracking down suspected drug traffickers who have entered illegally into the kingdom's southern borders when they were fired upon.
In the ensuing gunbattle, one of the smugglers was killed and another was captured. Unfortunately, one of the border guards identified as First Private Yahya Hamad Ali Sa'an was also killed.
In addition to the banned drugs, the patrol also seized a machine gun, ammunition and other weapons, the spokesman said.
The Directorate General of Border Guards, which is under the Ministry of Interior, is tasked with securing the kingdom's sea and land borders, which stretches up to more than 8,000 kilometers.
