Over 1,000 Smuggling Attempts Foiled In A Week, Says Saudi Arabia
The contraband included narcotic and prohibited substances, and cash exceeding the permitted limits, the Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca) has said.
It added that officers posted at different customs clearance points had busted a total of 1,071 smuggling bids that included 68 cases of narcotic substances. Other seizures included prohibited items and smuggled cash, the value of which was not given.
Zatca said in a statement that the seizures are part of an all-out strategy to consolidate security control on border outlets in coordination with relevant authorities in the kingdom to confront all aspects of smuggling.
Saudi Arabia has stepped up its crackdown on narcotics smugglers in what is dubbed the 'war on drugs', and has reported a string of aborted attempts over the past months.
In February, Saudi anti-drug police said they had thwarted an attempt to smuggle 11.1 million amphetamine drug tablets hidden in a food shipment.
The General Directorate of Narcotics Control seized the haul at the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The bust was conducted in coordination with Zatca, and followed by the apprehension of two recipients of the shipment.
In January, Zatca said its personnel had foiled an attempt to smuggle 1.4 million Captagon drug pills hidden inside a shipment that had arrived at the Red Sea port of Jeddah.
When the shipment, a machine used to spin laundry, was subjected to customs procedures, the haul was found inside.
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