Saudi- War on drugs pays off: 2237 traffickers held arms seized

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: The Ministry of Interior has arrested 2237 people involved in trafficking drugs over the past 10 months.
Over the past six months there were 453 Saudis and 856 foreigners of various nationalities nabbed by security officers said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki spokesman of the ministry.
During security operations one security officer was martyred and 25 wounded while two traffickers died and nine were injured Al-Turki said.
Following the operations officers seized 703 weapons including 52 machines guns 584 pistols 67 rifles and 28460 rounds of live ammunition he said.
Other items seized included 11.6 million amphetamine capsules 12.21 tons of hashish 13.157 kg of raw heroin 188 kg of heroin ready for distribution 3.138 kg of narcotic methamphetamine and 1.18 million scheduled drugs. There was also over SR16.9 million in cash seized.
Those arrested include two Iraqis 338 Yemenis one Qatari one Thai one Mauritanian one Tunisian seven Eritreans 58 Ethiopians 67 Egyptians 23 Sudanese 21 Syrians 24 Palestinians 52 Bangladeshis 27 Indians and 71 Pakistanis.
There were also 13 Jordanians three Niger nationals one Djibouti 40 Somalis 10 Burmese five Lebanese two Moroccans 13 Chadians 16 Afghans five Indonesians one Cameroonian two Sri Lankans one Turkmenistani 21 Filipinos five Kenyans four Malians 11 Nigerians four Burmese and two of unknown nationality.