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Border Guard patrols in the Al Dayer sector of Jazan thwarted an attempt to smuggle 380 kilograms of khat, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday. In associated actions across the Asir region, units seized 249,000 tablets subject to the law regulating medical preparations and pharmaceutical products. The Saudi Press Agency said initial legal procedures were completed in both cases, with the confiscated materials handed over to competent authorities. Officials have maintained a sustained focus on these southern sectors where smuggling routes converge from neighboring areas.
The operations form part of routine and targeted patrols conducted by the General Directorate of Border Guards across Jazan and Asir. According to the Saudi Press Agency dispatch, the seized khat and tablets were secured during land-based interdictions that prevented their entry into the kingdom. No further details on suspects were released in the immediate announcement, consistent with standard procedure that defers such information until after preliminary investigations.
Security authorities urged citizens and residents to report any information related to drug smuggling or trafficking. The General Directorate of Narcotics Control can be contacted by calling 911 in Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province or 999 elsewhere in the kingdom. Reports can also be submitted by email to [email protected], and the authorities confirmed that all tips are handled with complete confidentiality.
These interdictions add to a series of actions in the southern regions, where border security updates compiled between August 13 and 25 documented the seizure of a combined 880 kilograms of khat. Reports from that period indicated at least 24 Ethiopian nationals were arrested alongside several Yemeni individuals in connection with the smuggling cases. The Saudi Press Agency has issued multiple dispatches on such operations, reflecting the frequency of attempts along the shared borders.
In a larger 2022 campaign, border guards seized more than 80 tonnes of khat in addition to 708,910 amphetamine tablets across Jazan, Asir, Najran and other provinces, The National reported at the time. That action led to the arrest of 120 suspects of various nationalities, including 40 Saudi citizens, according to the same report. Col. Misfir Al Qarini of the General Directorate of Border Guards provided details on the scale of the haul and the subsequent handover of both detainees and evidence.
The General Directorate of Border Guards has continued to issue updates through the Saudi Press Agency on its efforts to counter narcotics flows. Similar operations have repeatedly targeted khat, which is cultivated primarily in East Africa and Yemen, as well as regulated tablets that include amphetamine-type substances. Lt. Col. Misfer bin Ghannam Al-Quraini has spoken in prior briefings about the role of coordinated land and sea patrols in disrupting these networks.
