JEDDAH: Border guards in Jazan province have arrested nine people accused of trying to smuggle 430 kilograms of hashish into Saudi Arabia.
Marine Col. Saher bin Mohammed Al-Harbi, a spokesman, said guards have thwarted several such attempts to smuggle hashish.
In the latest endeavor three Ethiopians, five Yemenis and one Saudi were arrested, he said.
Al-Harbi said the hashish was confiscated and the smugglers will be prosecuted.
Border guards in Jazan have also foiled attempts to smuggle alcohol, money and stolen vehicles. They have also arrested people trying to smuggle themselves into the Kingdom, as well as violators of residence and labor laws.
The spokesman for the Border Guards directorate in Jazan, Khalid bin Abdullah Qzeiz, said that patrols on routine checks arrested 580 infiltrators, 132 violators of the residence and labor law and 25 smugglers.
He said that patrols caught 39 stolen vehicles and thwarted attempts to smuggle 51 packages of hashish and 11,034 bundles of qat.
He said patrols also found 1,290 liters of alcohol, 184,800 kilos of chewing tobacco and seized SR94,700 in cash.
He added that patrols monitored the suspicious movement of a Jeep on Talan Mount, which was being driven by two people. Realizing that they were followed, the individual in the passenger seat threw a bag from the car and they got away.
The medium-size bag was holding 12 packages of hashish, and was referred to the relevant authorities.