RIYADH — Saudi Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of a 9-member drug trafficking gang, who included employees from three government agencies. An official source at the ministry said that it had managed to bust a criminal network involved in smuggling drugs into the Kingdom via Al-Jouf International Airport. A total of nine Saudi citizens have been arrested for their involvement in drug-related criminal activities. They included one employee from the Ministry of Interior, four employees from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, and an employee from the Saudi Electricity Company. The source revealed that those who were part of this gang were working in coordination with an international smuggling network. They received large quantities of smuggled drugs through the airport and succeeded in bringing them into the Kingdom using advanced criminal methods. According to initial investigations, these individuals smuggled drugs in bags that were not subject to the usual inspection procedures at the airport, to be transported later to various locations within the Kingdom. These individuals, whose roles in the network vary, colluded with smugglers to facilitate the entry of drugs into Saudi territory through illegal means, by hiding them in various locations and homes identified by the network members. The source indicated that the role of the suspects was not limited to receiving drugs only, but also included organizing the process of hiding them in secret places to avoid detection by the security authorities. After that, they began transporting and storing drugs in various other locations in the Kingdom in preparation for trafficking them, as it posed a real threat to public security and public health, the source added.
