Public Security Director Lt. Gen. Muhammad Al-Bassami revealed that Saudi Arabia’s “War on Drugs” campaign has resulted in the seizure of huge cache of drugs. These included more than 1500 kilograms of methamphetamine, which is the crude form of the drug shabu, 76 million amphetamine pills, and 22000 kilos of hashish, in addition to 174 kilos of cocaine, 900,000 kilos of qat, and 12 million pills of illegal drugs.
On his part, Director General of Narcotics Control Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Qarni said that the security authorities have foiled last year the smuggling of 129 million amphetamine tablets and 75 kilograms of shabu in transit countries before they reached the borders. He noted that more than 75 percent of drug abuse cases are in the age groups between 20 and 40 years, while eight percent of drug users are under 20 years old, and the seized female cases do not exceed one percent among the total number of cases.
Al-Qarni said that the Narcotics Control Directorate has an electronic investigation unit that monitors what is reported through social media. The unit sent a message to parents in which it said: “Be wary of your children against being fallen in the traps of these drug traffickers and corruptors.”
Al-Qarni explained that the penalty for drug use is legally waived for anyone who takes the initiative and approach for treatment at rehabilitation centers. The process of treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers takes place in complete confidentiality and privacy, he added.
Meanwhile, a number of young men and women, who are victims of drug abuse, narrated their suffering and ordeal that reached the point of being subjected to rape, losing their education, and running away from their families.
In an interview on Al-Liwan program with broadcaster Abdullah Al-Mudayfer on the “Rotana Khalijiya” channel, one of the shabo drug victims, briefed on her harrowing journey through the hell of addiction. She started using drugs along with her university friend. Then she fell prey to her boyfriend, who was abusing her with all kinds of exploitation until she lost her femininity.” In the beginning, she started using shabo, believing that it is shisha, before she reached the point of addiction.
The female addict accused her boyfriend of responsible for her addiction, saying the he employed all kinds of exploitation for three years in exchange for giving her narcotic substances. She also fled from her family home and stayed with him in his apartment, where he was exploiting a number of other girls.
While participating in the television program, another woman named “Umm Anwar” spoke about her daughter’s distressful condition caused by drug abuse. She said that her daughter met a person called Saud, who is working in her banking field. She fell in love with him and eventually he started offering her drugs. The woman said that that man continued to pursue her daughter even after she left her job. She noted that the man raped her daughter and eventually she suffered from total mental breakdown.
The woman pointed that her daughter had completely changed, spoke always badly, and was absent from home. She was spending a lot of money on shabu and other narcotic substances, the mother pointed out.