RIYADH: The Kingdom’s southern border forces have arrested 13 Ethiopians for suspected illegal entry and attempting to smuggle 917 kg of qat and other narcotic substances into the country, the Saudi Press Agency said in a series of reports on Sunday.
Two Yemenis and a Saudi Arabia citizen were arrested in separate operations for peddling drugs, the SPA reported.
Seven of the Ethiopian suspects were arrested by the Border Guard in Al-Ardah, Jazan, while allegedly trying to enter the Kingdom with 320 kg of qat, the SPA said in one of eight reports.
Another report said Border Guard land patrols in Al-Dayer, Jazan, arrested four Ethiopians for suspected illegal entry and possession of 39.5 kg of hashish and 19,960 tablets of amphetamine.
In Fifa, Jazan, security patrols arrested two Ethiopians for suspected illegal entry and possession of 59,998 tablets of illegal drugs.
A sample of the narcotic qat plant, a key export of drug traffickers from Yemen. (SPA/File)
Border Guard patrols reportedly seized, in separate operations, 432 kg of qat in Al-Raboah, Asir; 165 kg of qat in Al-Dayer, Jazan; and an undetermined amount of qat in Al-Farsha, Asir.
In Asir, security patrols of the General Directorate of Mujahideen arrested a Saudi Arabia citizen for the suspected peddling of hashish and methamphetamine, the SPA reported.
And in Jeddah, officers of the directorate arrested two Yemeni nationals for the suspected peddling of hashish and amphetamine.
The government has called on the public to report drug smuggling or selling by calling 911 in Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, and 999 in other parts of the Kingdom.
Reports to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control can be submitted by using the number 995 or email [email protected].
