RIYADH — A total of 71 people were arrested and around 16.9 million narcotic pills seized during a five-day campaign carried out by the Saudi security authorities in cooperation with the relevant government agencies all over the Kingdom. The arrested people were found involved in smuggling, sale, possession and consumption of drugs. The raids were conducted from Tuesday, April 25, until Saturday, April 29, immediately after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays in various regions and governorates across the Kingdom. The raids led to the seizure of about 16.9 million narcotic amphetamine and Captagon tablets from 17 regions and governorates, at a rate of more than 3.3 million narcotic tablets per day. On the first day of the campaign on April 25, the security authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle in 12,729,000 the narcotic amphetamine tablets at the Jeddah Islamic Port. Two Egyptians and one Syrian and Yemeni national each were arrested during the raid carried out in coordination with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). Two Ethiopians were arrested while attempting to smuggle in hashish in the southern Asir region while two Pakistanis were arrested in Jeddah while trading narcotic methamphetamine pills. The General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) urged the public to report any suspicious activities or incidents of drug smuggling or sale through contacting the directorate's toll-free number 995, or via e-mail: 995gdnc.gov.sa, saying that all reports will be dealt with strict confidentiality. The National Project for the Prevention for Narcotics (Nebras), an affiliate of the National Committee of Narcotics Control (NCNC), seeks to curb the dangers of narcotics and psychotropic substances, and to create health, social, cultural and preventive awareness so as to reject the use of narcotics and psychotropic substances. This is through achieving harmony and coordinating efforts between the relevant governmental and private agencies in the security, preventive, informational, therapeutic, rehabilitative, judicial, social and educational activities through enhancing community participation in the prevention and control efforts. Nebras has warned against the scourge of drugs, which leads to chronic diseases that affect the brain. It noted that some young people try the use of drugs through friends or acquaintances out of curiosity, which may lead them into addiction and consequent family and financial problems. Nebras indicated that the drug injections is one of causes of blood-borne diseases such as AIDS. It confirmed that adolescents who constantly receive educational awareness about the harms of drugs from their parents are 50 percent less likely to use them than those who are not aware of the dangers of drugs. It is noteworthy that Nebras program primarily aims to create a drug-free environment by using various media outlets to bring down rates of drug abuse among members of the community and encourage the role of family members by raising their awareness about the dangers of drugs and the use of psychotropic substances.
