Two Asian men have been detained after offering a “considerable sum of money” to a checkpoint officer to turn a blind eye to their cargo of alcohol. The officer in Al-Mubarraz had reportedly discovered 240 bottles of alcohol in the vehicle, and when he was offered the bribe he immediately included it in his report on the incident and the two men were led away for questioning. Customs authorities at Al-Batha, meanwhile, set about destroying on Thursday 5,000 bottles seized at the crossing point in recent days. Saudi Gazette reported Wednesday that 11,000 bottles of alcohol and cans of beer had been seized over the previous two days in five separate hauls at the Al-Batha and Silwa crossings in the Eastern Province. Among the discoveries reported by Eastern Province customs officials was that one vehicle was found with 7,000 bottles and 77 cans of beer. In another instance, a car was found to have 172 bottles of liquor hidden in hollowed-out areas behind its headlights.
