Saudi authorities have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 451,807 amphetamine tablets from Lebanese Hezbollah, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Talal Al-Shalahub said.

Al-Shalahub said, as quoted by the Saudi press agency, that one of the drug-producing and smuggling networks linked to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia was trying to smuggle amphetamine tablets into the kingdom by sea from Lebanon to Nigeria whilst hidden inside mechanical equipment.

He also noted that in coordination with his colleagues in the Republic of Nigeria, the drugs were seized before being sent to the Kingdom, and pointed to positive cooperation with his colleagues in the Federal Republic of Nigeria that included monitoring and seizure of narcotics, emphasising that his country continues to prioritise the saftety of its kingdom and its youth.

Last Tuesday, the kingdom's authorities also thwarted the smuggling of 233 kilogrammes of cannabis through the kingdom's east coast, and the Saudi press agency reported from an official spokesman for the Director General of Drug Control, Major Muhammad al-Nujaidi, that, "As part of our ongoing security monitoring of criminal activities designed to protect the security of the kingdom and its young people from drugs, an attempt to smuggle 233 kg of hashish through the coastal areas in the east of the kingdom was thwarted".

Al-Nujaidi added that the follow-up and seizure of the cannabis was carried out in coordination with the border guards according to the plan, and the 7 suspects involved in the attempt to smuggle him were arrested: 3 Yemenis, two Syrians, an Egyptian and a Jordanian.

He explained that the first proceedings against the detainees had been completed and handed over to the public prosecution, stressing that anyone who is pro violating the kingdom’s regulations and provisions and would try to smuggle drugs into it would be punished by the kingdom.

On August 13, the Saudi Jeddah customs authority announced that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1.6 million captagon bullets, which were found hidden inside a shipment received through the port. Last week, the Jeddah Authority also thwarted an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of Captagon bullets, amounting to more than 8.7 million bullets, hidden in a cocoa shipment.