Mishal Al-Otaibi Saudi Gazette/SPA RIYADH — Over 80 percent of drugs smuggled to the Gulf countries are mixed with cheap substances, or adulterated, according to a drugs expert in Kuwait. Abdulhameed Al-Bilali, chairman of Bashaer Al-Khair, an organization that treats and rehabilitates drug addicts, said Kuwaiti narcotics authorities discovered that gangs smuggling drugs to the Gulf countries mix them with harmful substances including arsenic, rat poison and iron filings. These substances cause the human organs to fail rapidly, he added. Al-Bilali said 50 percent of smuggled drugs in the Arab world are in the Gulf. He added that narcotics authorities have dealt with these gangs through preemptive strikes and many dealers have been arrested. Al-Bilali praised the work of narcotics authorities in Saudi Arabia. He praised the close cooperation between the Kingdom and Kuwait in tackling drugs. A delegation from Bashaer Al-Khair headed by Al-Bilali visited Saudi narcotics authorities in Riyadh. The members were received by Maj. Gen. Othman Nasser Al-Muhrij, director general of the Department to Combat Drugs, and other senior officials. The visit commenced with a tour of an exhibition on the different methods of smuggling and the quantities of drugs seized during the past three years. The delegation was also briefed on the work of the department's command and control center. They saw maps of international drug smuggling routes and the results of laboratory research conducted by the department and learned about the different kinds of drugs and their effects. Meanwhile, Abdulilah Muhammad Al-Shareef, the department's assistant director general for preventive affairs, said the delegation learned about the programs and plans carried out by the department to create public awareness about drugs. During a meeting with the Kuwaiti delegation, Al-Shareef announced a proposal to establish a Gulf center for combating drugs. He said the proposal would be referred to leaders of the GCC countries and interior ministers. Meanwhile, government authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle a consignment of mobiles and electrical equipment in a truck at the Salwa border checkpoint near Qatar. The Director General of the Salwa Customs department Abdulrahman Al-Hana said road security officers contacted his officials to tell them a truck had deviated from its designated course. After the truck was stopped and searched at the checkpoint, officers found the smuggled goods in addition to SR50,000. Customs officers at the southern Tuwal border checkpoint also foiled an attempt to smuggle SR509,200 inside a car. The acting director general for the Customs department at the checkpoint, Ziad Al-Aradi, said it turned out that the amount was stolen. At the King Fahd Causeway, Customs officers also foiled attempts during the Islamic month of Muharram to smuggle into the Kingdom 496 cans of beer, 1,176 bottles of whiskey and wine, 10,485 grams of hashish, 28 grams of the narcotic shabu, 15,386 liters of petroleum derivatives that are export restricted, 48 kg of pork, 1,859 birds and a total of SR2,191,022 that had not been declared.
