The authorities took initial legal measures against the culprits who were referred to the competent authority, he added.

Authorities in the Kingdom have recently stepped up a crackdown on the smuggling, distribution and possession of illicit drugs.

In February, attempts to smuggle more than 1.2 million amphetamine tablets into the Kingdom was thwarted by authorities.

Authorities arrested one person in Riyadh who was found in possession of more than 790,000 pills, while another individual was detained in Tabuk after 455,000 tablets were discovered during a raid carried out in cooperation with the General Directorate of Border Guard.

Marine patrols in the Eastern Province also intercepted an attempt to smuggle more than 75,000 amphetamine tablets into the Kingdom. The pills, weighing a total of 10 kgs, were “handed over to the competent authorities,” according to Col. Misfir Al-Qarini of the GDBG.