{"id":5928,"date":"2022-08-31T23:56:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T17:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/?p=5928"},"modified":"2022-08-31T23:56:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T17:56:22","slug":"saudi-arabias-biggest-drugs-bust-nets-billion-dollar-haul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/world\/2022\/08\/31\/news\/5928\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s biggest drugs bust nets billion-dollar haul"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_5930\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5930\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5930\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/so-1-300x171.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"171\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5930\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saudi authorities have thwarted a multi-million dollar narcotics haul in a bust that saw eight expats arrested. (SPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>RIYADH, Broadcasting News Corporation : Saudi authorities have seized narcotics with a street value of up to $1 billion and arrested eight expats in what is believed to be the Kingdom\u2019s biggest-ever drugs bust.<br \/>\nAuthorities discovered the 47 million amphetamine pills during a raid on a warehouse in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. The drugs have a street value of between $470 million and more than $1 billion, based on figures cited in the International Addiction Review journal. It is the largest-known smuggling attempt of its kind in the Kingdom, the report added. Six Syrians and two Pakistanis were arrested after authorities found the pills hidden in a large shipment of flour, Maj. Mohammed Al-Najidi, spokesperson of the Saudi Narcotics Control, told SPA. The Saudi public prosecutor has launched a follow-up investigation following the raid, the report said. Ibrahim Bahathiq, a columnist at Al-Yaum newspaper, told Arab News that drug smuggling and trafficking are becoming growing markets for criminals and other lawless groups.<br \/>\nThe resulting violence and instability \u201cendangers internal peace, security and the rule of law in states targeted by drug traffickers,\u201d he said. Bahathiq said that \u201cjoint cooperation and strategic planning\u201d among regional anti-drug agencies is essential in prosecuting drug traffickers and disrupting smuggling lines. He underlined the need for cooperation and coordination between authorities at all levels to control the drug menace.<br \/>\nBahathiq said that the youth population was the drug traffickers\u2019 primary target, warning that any tolerance of the problem would be \u201cdevastating not only for individuals, but also families and communities.\u201d<br \/>\nHe said that family was the most important forum for raising awareness against illicit drugs. Bahathiq emphasized the need to talk to young people about the risks posed by narcotics, and \u201cto be wary of the scourge, which is not limited to societal ostracism but might result in death.\u201d NEWS COLLECTED FROM ARAB NEWS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RIYADH, Broadcasting News Corporation : Saudi authorities have seized narcotics with a street value of up to $1 billion and arrested eight expats in what is believed to be the Kingdom\u2019s biggest-ever drugs bust. Authorities discovered the 47 million amphetamine pills during a raid on a warehouse in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5931,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5928\/revisions\/5931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}