JEDDAH: Customs officials at Duba Port foiled an attempt to smuggle 872,784 Captagon pills that were hidden in a truck coming to the Kingdom.
Director General of Customs of Duba Port Ali Al-Atwi said that the drugs were found hidden in an artistic way inside sheet metal templates that were fixed to the car’s floor.
He noted that necessary measures were taken against those involved, noting that the pills were found in a “Barad” truck coming on one of the ferries entering the port.
He stressed the vital role carried out by Saudi Customs throughout all of its outlets across the land, air, and sea. “They are always alert for any attempt at smuggling, particularly when it comes to drugs, to protect the state and its citizens.”
It is noted that Duba Port Custom Police at the Red Sea have been successful in catching many smugglers, most notably their seizure of a large batch of Captagon pills that exceeded 1 million pills hidden in different shipments in September, seizing 16,000 Tramadol and 876,000 Captagon pills.
Duba customs foil smuggling of 872,784 Captagon pills
Duba customs foil smuggling of 872,784 Captagon pills
Two Holy Mosques authority launches smart interactive map system
MADINAH: A new smart interactive map system has been inaugurated for the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.
CEO of the General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque Ghazi Al-Shahrani said that the smart interactive map facilitated the movement of visitors and worshipers while significantly enhancing navigational efficiency within the two holy mosques. The system is designed to guide visitors along the most suitable routes, support real-time updates, ensure safe navigation and enhance the overall quality of the experience.
Al-Shahrani said that the results achieved were part of the authority’s efforts to advance digital transformation and leverage smart technologies in serving pilgrims. He said that this system was one of dozens launched recently that contributed to generating operational data that supported decision-making, enhanced understanding of challenges and paved the way for developing future digital systems.
Interactive maps are part of a smart digital system that provides real-time spatial guidance, powered by live operational data linked to control rooms. This enables visitors to be directed to the most appropriate routes during closures or congestion, with immediate and accurate updates.
Executive vice president of digital transformation at the authority, Mohammed Al-Saqr, said that the pilot phase of the maps, which began during Ramadan, was integrated with the color coding and metric addressing system, which divided the Two Holy Mosques into clear geographical zones that supported smart operations and activated spatial data as part of an integrated services and analytics ecosystem. He said that this launch represented the first step in a project that would continue to evolve over the coming years, with further development planned through 2026.
Al-Saqr said that the system featured more than 950 points of interest across 13 service categories, supported by more than 650 QR codes for easy access. It could also generate more than 100,000 dynamic routes, automatically optimized in real time based on operational conditions and crowd flow.
Director of business solutions at the authority, Waheeb Al-Mutrafi, said that the maps enabled precise location-based reporting and contributed to accelerating access to electric carts through ticket numbers via a smart platform built on field data verified over several months, enhancing operational efficiency and improving the quality of services provided to worshippers.
