Qatari, Saudi security foil drug smuggling attempts

Qatari and Saudi security authorities have foiled two separate attempts to smuggle more than two million amphetamine pills from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.

The Saudi smugglers were arrested as they tried to cross the Qatar-Saudi borders. Both smugglers have reportedly been referred to the competent authorities for further investigations.

Qatari authorities have recently stepped up efforts against drug smuggling on all ports of entry, including the airport, where they often thwart individual attempts by passengers trafficking various substances.

In May 2015, Qatar's interior ministry organised a two-day international forum devoted to fighting drug trafficking and abuse in the country.

The Qatar International Anti-Drug Forum, attended by delegates from over 22 countries and regional and international bodies, aimed at "strengthening cooperation and coordination among nations through exchanging expertise, experience and information related to the latest methods of concealment", the ministry announced at the time.

Public security chief Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi said that Qatar had developed an anti-drug national strategy that "absorbed all the dimensions of the drug problem and its multiple dangers".

The forum concluded with a call for the "development of technical, human and technological capabilities and inclusion of anti-drug provisions criminalising drug promotion through the Internet", according to local media.