Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki, interior ministry spokesman, said in Riyadh on Sunday that 57 of those arrested were Saudis and the others were of varying nationalities.
Al Turki said great efforts are needed to guard the vast land and sea borders of the country and prevent the entry of prohibited goods.
He stressed that the security forces had comprehensive strategies aimed at countering narcotic smugglers who come both by land and sea. “Those involved in smuggling the forbidden items tried to resist the police in a few cases which resulted in causing slight injuries to two policemen and three smugglers,” he said. “At King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah an expatriate was apprehended with 3,749 grams of heroin in his shoes along with another individual who had concealed 818 grams in his abdomen,” he said. He added that the security forces were able to implement their programme at the airport because of effective cooperation from the customs authorities. Al Turki said that the ministry of interior would continue to fight the narcotic dealers and smugglers. “We will bring the arrested criminals to justice and make sure that punishment is given according to the law of the land,” he said. He said that in one case, the smugglers tried to bring in 1,414 kilogrammes of hashish into the Kingdom by boat through waters in the Gulf. “We have also foiled three attempts to smuggle a total of 891 kilogrammes of hashish through the Kingdom’s southern borders. There were six attempts to smuggle 939,118 Captagon tablets into the Kingdom,” he said. Al Turki praised security officers for their vigilance in preventing drug smuggling and trafficking into the Kingdom. “The smugglers had used professional methods to hide prohibited drugs as they were kept inside cars, various equipment, refrigerators, batteries and beverage bottles,” he said.
