Customs and tax officials foiled a smuggling of large quantities of the cocaine powder, cocaine capsules hidden in the stomach of a foreigner.
The Tax and Customs Authority foiled two operations of cocaine smuggling in Riyadh and Jeddah and arrested the smugglers. A total of 1.5 kg of cocaine was recovered from the accused.
Saudi media quoted the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority as saying that in two separate drug trafficking operations, customs officials foiled an attempt to smuggle cocaine.
Details released by the authority said customs officials stationed at Riyadh’s Shah Khalid International Airport detained a passenger who was suspected of being involved in drug trafficking.
A search of the passenger’s luggage turned up nothing, and officials conducted a detailed search of the passenger’s X-ray, which revealed that he had abnormally shaped capsules in his abdomen.
Sources said that 91 capsules of cocaine containing 588 grams of cocaine were recovered from the stomach of the said passenger. A second smuggling operation was foiled at the port of Jeddah, in which 658 grams of cocaine were recovered from capsules found in the stomach of a man arriving by ship.
Customs officials handed over the accused to the Anti-Narcotics Department where a case will be filed against them and they will be handed over to the criminal court.