The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has continued its efforts to fight drug smugglers, as it managed to thwart 7 attempts to smuggle more than 2.1 million Captagon pills at Haditha Port, found hidden in consignments coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the port.
The Authority has explained that as the consignments were subject to customs procedures and examination through security techniques and “police dogs", the quantities of Captagon pills were found hidden in different ways, but smugglers were confronted with the Authority's official competence at the border and their experience in dealing with such cases, as it explained that in the first thwarted attempt, 467,441 Captagon pills were found hidden into the cavity of one of the trucks coming through the port.
The mental presence of the Authority's official has also led to the thwarting of the second attempt, which was a consignment of flour in which the smuggler hid 566,279 Captagon pills in inside the bags. In the third attempt, the Authority's official at the port were able to thwart 136,045 Captagon pills, found hidden inside the radiator of a truck, after it was hollowed out and filled with the pills.
The Authority has added that the port has also managed to thwart a fourth smuggling attempt, after finding 184,883 Captagon pills hidden in the cavity of the refrigerator of a truck cabin.
The Authority has further added that in the fifth attempt, 473,255 Captagon pills were thwarted after the smuggler had hidden them in separate parts of his truck. In the sixth attempt, 282,558 Captagon pills were hidden in the floor of one of the trucks. In addition, the Authority has thwarted a seventh attempt to smuggle Captagon pills, the number of seizures reached 26,744 pills found hidden in caches in the front end of the truck.
The Authority has clarified that after completing the seizure, operations in coordination with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) was organized to ensure the arrest of the recipients of the seizures, 12 people were arrested.
The Authority has confirmed that it is continuing to tighten customs control over the Kingdom's imports and exports, and is standing in the face of attempts, to achieve one of the most important pillars of its strategy represented in the security and protection of the society. It reiterated the constant work to unify and enhance efforts with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) to contribute to the effectiveness of the methodology used between the two sides to combat narcotics smuggling in all its forms and types.
The Authority has also called on everyone to contribute to combating smuggling and protecting the society and national economy by contacting the Authority's designated number for security reports (1910), via e-mail (1910@zatca.gov.sa), or by the international number (00966114208417). The Authority will receive reports related to smuggling crimes and violations of the Common Customs Law confidentially, with a financial reward given to the whistleblower if the provided information were proven correct.
