RIYADH: Saudi authorities have seized narcotics with a street value of up to $1 billion and arrested eight expats in what is believed to be the Kingdom’s biggest-ever drugs bust.
Authorities discovered the 47 million amphetamine pills during a raid on a warehouse in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
The drugs have a street value of between $470 million and more than $1 billion, based on figures cited in the International Addiction Review journal.
It is the largest-known smuggling attempt of its kind in the Kingdom, the report added.
Six Syrians and two Pakistanis were arrested after authorities found the pills hidden in a large shipment of flour, Maj. Mohammed Al-Najidi, spokesperson of the Saudi Narcotics Control, told SPA.
The Saudi public prosecutor has launched a follow-up investigation following the raid, the report said.
Ibrahim Bahathiq, a columnist at Al-Yaum newspaper, told Arab News that drug smuggling and trafficking are becoming growing markets for criminals and other lawless groups.
Ibrahim Bahathiq, a columnist at Al-Yaum newspaper. (Supplied)
The resulting violence and instability “endangers internal peace, security and the rule of law in states targeted by drug traffickers,” he said.
Bahathiq said that “joint cooperation and strategic planning” among regional anti-drug agencies is essential in prosecuting drug traffickers and disrupting smuggling lines.
He underlined the need for cooperation and coordination between authorities at all levels to control the drug menace.
Bahathiq said that the youth population was the drug traffickers’ primary target, warning that any tolerance of the problem would be “devastating not only for individuals, but also families and communities.”
He said that family was the most important forum for raising awareness against illicit drugs.
Bahathiq emphasized the need to talk to young people about the risks posed by narcotics, and “to be wary of the scourge, which is not limited to societal ostracism but might result in death.”
(Additional reporting by Tamara Abueish)
