SAUDI ARABIA

Drug agencies dismantle Tramadol trafficking ring

February 24, 2018

Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM – Saudi authorities have successfully dismantled a black market operation for Tramadol in a raid on smugglers and traffickers who sold the controlled painkiller pills as a narcotic drug.

“There is good coordination between various government agencies to prevent the sales of prohibited drugs,” said an official of the drug enforcement agency.

The Drug Combating Directorate in Makkah province recently arrested a three-member gang, which received 35,600 pills of Tramadol from smugglers.

The volume of drugs being seized by the Customs and security agencies are on the increase recently. Tramadol is sold to customers under strict regulations.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and the Drug Combating Department want to end the misuse of Tramadol and other drugs after seizing a large amount of these pills on the black market.

Drug enforcement agencies have seized substantial quantities of Tramadol from smugglers and traffickers at the Kingdom’s various entry points including airports. Sulaiman Al-Barikan, director of narcotic medicines department at SFDA, said: “We coordinate with the Drug Combating Department to prevent drug abuse and operation of a black market for drugs.”

Various government agencies play different roles in combating drugs and there is good coordination between these agencies, he said while speaking to Al-Hayat Arabic daily.

Al-Barikan said SFDA follows up use of drugs like Tramadol since their arrival in the Kingdom until they are distributed to patients. “We monitor possible violations in pharmacies,” he said.

The official said the authority used to conduct workshops for medical practitioners to inform them about the content of certain medicines and medical preparations as well as their dangerous effects.

Meanwhile, a security source said the Drug Combating Directorate seized 35,600 Tramadol pills from three expatriates. “Previously another smuggler was arrested by Customs in Dhiba port near Tabuk and seized 126,200 amphetamine pills from the house of a smuggler,” he explained.

In June 2016, Customs officers at Prince Abdulmohsen Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Yanbu seized 7,050 Tramadol pills from the baggage of a passenger. Authorities at Cairo International Airport prevented an attempt to smuggle 1,700 such pills to Qassim on an Egypt Air flight.

Egyptian Consul General in Jeddah Ali Al-Asheeri said about 100 Egyptians were arrested in the Kingdom for smuggling and selling Tramadol pills in the country. They included pharmacists and pilgrims.

The SFDA has issued rules and regulations for supply of controlled drugs in the country. People convicted of drug trafficking, smuggling and manufacturing face the death penalty under Saudi law.

Individuals caught with narcotic drugs and their plants or seeds would be jailed from 5 to 15 years and fined up to SR550,000 or will be lashed 50 times.

“People who purchase, finance and transport narcotics or act as middle men for traders and promoters of drugs will also face the same punishment,” the source said.


February 24, 2018
2130 views
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA
7 hours ago

Financial package worth SR312 million launched to support Saudi research laboratories

SAUDI ARABIA
8 hours ago

Renovation of 56 heritage buildings in Historic Jeddah completed  

SAUDI ARABIA
9 hours ago

Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan discuss climate action cooperation