Nearly 900 Contraband Seizures Recorded At Saudi Customs Ports In A Week
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) reported a total of 896 seizures of prohibited items across land, sea, and air Customs ports in one week. This is part of the ongoing efforts to enhance security and protect society from contraband.
The seized contraband items included 49 types of narcotics, such as hashish, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Captagon pills, and others, in addition to 452 other prohibited substances. Customs ports also seized 1,535 items of tobacco and its derivatives, 20 types of currency, and two categories of weapons and related accessories.
ZATCA reiterated its commitment to reinforcing customs control over the Kingdom's imports and exports to ensure the security and protection of society through ongoing cooperation and coordination with all relevant authorities.
It also urged the public to help combat smuggling to protect society and the national economy by reporting violations through the designated security hotline 1910, email 1910@zatca.gov.sa, or the international number 009661910.
The authority receives reports related to smuggling and violations of the Common Customs Law in strict confidentiality, offering a financial reward if the information proves accurate.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Insider
13-06-2025
- Gulf Insider
Border Authorities Foil Smuggling Of Over 1.5 Million Narcotic Pills Bound For Saudi Arabia
The Yemeni border authorities announced the foiling of a huge cache of narcotic pills bound for Saudi Arabia from Sana'a. More than 1.5 million narcotic pills were seized hidden inside the roof of a refrigerated truck at the Saudi-Yemeni border crossing. Brig. Gen. Omair Al-Azab, commander of the Border Security and Protection Battalion at Al-Wadiah Border Crossing, said that the drugs were found tightly hidden in a refrigerated truck. 'The seizure took place at the 'weapons checkpoint' before the border crossing checkpoint, after the checkpoint personnel became suspicious of the truck. They searched it meticulously, which led to the discovery of the hidden drugs, he said. 'The truck driver admitted during initial investigations that the shipment of narcotic pills belonged to drug dealers in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and that his mission was limited to delivering them to the city of Sharurah in Saudi Arabia, and handing them over to another person whose identity is unknown to him. The seized items were confiscated from the driver and handed to the competent authorities to take the necessary legal measures,' the official Yemeni news agency Saba reported quoting Brig. Gen. Al-Azab as saying. For his part, Saleh Al-Baydani, advisor at the Yemen Embassy in Riyadh, warned that the seizure of these drug shipments coming from Houthi-controlled areas could be a dangerous indicator of the relocation of Captagon manufacturing and smuggling activities to Sana'a.
Gulf Insider
30-05-2025
- Gulf Insider
120 Saudi Government Staff Detained For Suspected Bribery, Job Exploitation
Saudi Arabia's state anti-corruption watchdog has interrogated 435 suspects this month and arrested 120 of them on suspicions of graft amid a relentless clampdown on white-collar corruption in the kingdom. The detainees are employees at the ministries of interior, defence, municipalities and housing, human resources, transport, and health, as well as the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority said. They were investigated on charges of bribery and job exploitation. The watchdog, known as Nazha (Integrity) has reaffirmed its commitment to monitoring, exposing, and prosecuting anyone involved in abusing public office, vowing to protect public funds and reinforce transparency in both public and private sectors. In recent years, hundreds of state employees and businesspeople in Saudi Arabia have been interrogated for suspected corruption and mismanagement of public money. In January, local media reported that Saudi authorities had arrested 1,708 people in 2024, including government staff, over suspicions of corruption, money laundering, and influence trading. These arrests followed 4,000 investigations and over 37,000 oversight rounds. During last year's Hajj season, Nazaha also carried out 9,600 inspections at Mecca's holy sites and affiliated agencies, resulting in 155 arrests linked to corruption.
Gulf Insider
23-05-2025
- Gulf Insider
Kuwait Sentences Police Officers To 10 Years For Drug Smuggling
A Kuwaiti court has sentenced two policemen and a customs inspector to 10 years in prison each for attempting to smuggle drugs. The country's Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of the three, including a firefighting officer, on attempting to smuggle 1 million banned Lyrica pills at Kuwait Airport. The defendants had been arrested by the Kuwaiti anti-drug police after receiving information that they were smuggling the substance in seven suitcases, Al Qabas newspaper reported without specifying the date of the arrests. Several countries ban dealing in Lyrica pills because of potential abuse and addiction. In recent months, Kuwaiti authorities have announced foiling several bids to smuggle drugs into the country. Earlier this month, a shipment arriving at Kuwait's Shuwaikh Port was found out to have contained 110kg of hashish that had been secretly hidden inside marble slabs. Two suspects — a Syrian national and an illegal resident with Eritrean citizenship— were arrested in connection with the bid, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said. They attempted to smuggle the shipment in collaboration with a person outside Kuwait identified as a Gulf national. In addition to the drugs, 6,000 Captagon pills, 5 grams of the intoxicating shabu substance, and a digital scale used in preparing and distributing narcotics were found at one suspect' house. The origin country of the illicit cargo was not revealed.
