JEDDAH — Customs officers have seized half a ton of cocaine at Jeddah Islamic Port, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. The 526 kilograms (1,160 pounds) of “pure cocaine” was found stashed in a container of paper, the ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. State television aired footage of the port's customs officers slashing packets of paper to remove the drugs.
The Interior Ministry said the drugs came from a South American country, without specifying which one. As the authorities frequently announce that they have intercepted huge shipments of narcotics, observers say the threat of capital punishment for drug trafficking appears to have done little to deter smugglers. Undercover police patrol officers in Jazan have arrested a man and a woman who were allegedly trying to smuggle 150 pieces of hashish, the local media reported on Sunday. The officers got suspicious of a vehicle and asked the driver to pull over. However, the driver sped off, trying to lose the officers. The officers called for more help. When the driver felt the officers were closing in on him, he pulled over, got out of the car and ran away, leaving his female accomplice behind. He was eventually arrested. Searching the car, the agents found 150 hashish bricks stashed in different places. The suspects were handed over to the pertinent police station for further investigations.
