By Maryam Al-Sagheer
Okaz/Saudi GazetteRIYADH – Abdulelah Al-Shareef, assistant general director of Narcotics Control at the Ministry of Interior, slammed recent media reports claiming that 90 percent of narcotics are smuggled into the Kingdom without the knowledge of customs officials.

“First of all, these reports are not logical and don’t rely on any credible statistics,” he said.

“The Kingdom is one of the few countries in the world that has dealt countless preemptive blows to narcotics gangs and foiled many smuggling attempts, thanks to the continuous coordination between the Customs Department, Border Guard and the Directorate of Anti-Narcotics (DAN),” said Al-Shareef.

“Statistics attest to this fact and confirm that the percentage of foiled drug smuggling attempts is a large one.

“Anyone who keeps up with the news on a daily basis will notice the painstaking efforts exerted against drug smugglers,” he added.

Al-Shareef said officials continue to strike drug smugglers with an iron fist. He also lauded the educational drug prevention programs offered by DAN, Saudi universities, the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and said such programs are key to helping curb the problem.