26/06/2026
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26/06/2026
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RIYADH, Jun 26: Saudi authorities have foiled another major drug smuggling operation, seizing more than 1.4 million amphetamine pills concealed inside a rock-crushing machine and arresting four suspects linked to the shipment.
The General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) said the operation took place in the Northern Borders region as part of the Ministry of Interior's intensified campaign to combat narcotics smuggling and protect the Kingdom from organized drug trafficking networks.
Investigators arrested one Jordanian resident, believed to have transported the shipment, along with three Saudi citizens accused of being the intended recipients of the drugs.
Authorities said the sophisticated concealment method involved hiding the amphetamine pills inside heavy industrial machinery in an apparent attempt to evade customs inspections.
The Ministry of Interior said the operation was carried out in coordination with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, reaffirming that security agencies will continue tracking and dismantling criminal networks attempting to smuggle narcotics into the Kingdom.
The latest seizure is part of a series of major anti-drug operations conducted throughout June.
Earlier this month, Saudi and Lebanese authorities jointly thwarted an attempt to smuggle nearly 3.9 million amphetamine pills into the Kingdom after Saudi intelligence enabled Lebanese officials to intercept the shipment.
In another operation, intelligence shared by Saudi authorities with the United Arab Emirates led to the dismantling of a criminal network and the seizure of 267,300 amphetamine pills.
At the beginning of June, the GDNC also intercepted 845,087 amphetamine pills hidden inside cardboard sheets in the Kingdom's Eastern Region. Authorities later arrested a Saudi citizen in Taif who was allegedly waiting to receive the shipment.
Brig. Gen. Talal bin Abdul Mohsen bin Shalhoub, the Ministry of Interior's security spokesman, said Saudi Arabia remains committed to working with regional partners to identify and destroy criminal organizations seeking to flood the Kingdom with narcotics.
The government has urged residents to report suspected drug smuggling or trafficking through emergency numbers 911 in Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and the Eastern Region, 999 elsewhere in the Kingdom, or via the GDNC hotline 995, assuring that all reports will be treated with strict confidentiality.
