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Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle $35m worth of captagon pills

Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle $35m worth of captagon pills
The shipment was received through Jeddah Islamic Port, pills were hidden inside a laundry recycling machine (X/@Zatca_sa)
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Updated 24 January 2025

Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle $35m worth of captagon pills

Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle $35m worth of captagon pills

RIYADH: The Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority has thwarted an attempt to smuggle over 1.4 million captagon pills into the Kingdom through the Jeddah Islamic Port.

According to the authority, the pills were found inside a shipment during customs procedures and live detection.

Coordination with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control led to the arrest of the intended recipients of the seized items in the Kingdom.

Captagon, a type of amphetamine, is used predominantly by young men and teenage boys across the Middle East and has a street value of between $10 and $25 a pill, according to research by the International Journal of Addiction Research.

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Inside ֱ's war against the drug destroying lives across the Arab world

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Madinah tops Saudi public sector rankings

Madinah tops Saudi public sector rankings
Updated 17 October 2025

Madinah tops Saudi public sector rankings

Madinah tops Saudi public sector rankings
  • This distinction reflects the commitment of the Saudi leadership to improve the quality of life and services for residents and visitors while supporting Saudi Vision 2030

MADINAH: The Public Sector Capabilities Index 2025 has highlighted Madinah’s strengths in institutional capacity building in the first report assessing cities’ abilities to adapt and transform.

For the report, published by the University College London Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, field research was conducted in 45 cities with input from over 200 government officials and 100 international experts.

Madinah excelled in adopting methodologies and developing local governance mechanisms, mainly due to the “innovative government excellence model in Madinah” established by Madinah Region Development Authority and the region’s municipality.

The model promotes partnership and boosts flexibility to enhance integration between the government, private sector and community.

This distinction reflects the commitment of the Saudi leadership to improve the quality of life and services for residents and visitors while supporting Saudi Vision 2030.

 


Saudi minister of communications meets Intel CEO to strengthen partnership in semiconductors, AI

Lip-Bu Tan (L) receives Abdullah Al-Swaha in Washington. (Supplied)
Lip-Bu Tan (L) receives Abdullah Al-Swaha in Washington. (Supplied)
Updated 17 October 2025

Saudi minister of communications meets Intel CEO to strengthen partnership in semiconductors, AI

Lip-Bu Tan (L) receives Abdullah Al-Swaha in Washington. (Supplied)
  • Part of Kingdom’s efforts to reinforce position as global hub

WASHINGTON: The Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha has met Lip-Bu Tan, the CEO of Intel, to discuss areas of partnership in developing semiconductor and advanced computing technologies, along with enhancing collaboration in building artificial intelligence infrastructure and future technologies.

The meeting in the US comes as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to reinforce its position as a global hub for AI and advanced computing, and to localize value chains in semiconductor technologies, in support of Saudi Vision 2030 objectives, strengthening the competitiveness of the digital economy and the country’s leadership in future technologies.

 


Vocational toolkits distributed to people in Yemen

The project aims to empower 1,500 beneficiaries across several Yemeni governorates. (SPA)
The project aims to empower 1,500 beneficiaries across several Yemeni governorates. (SPA)
Updated 17 October 2025

Vocational toolkits distributed to people in Yemen

The project aims to empower 1,500 beneficiaries across several Yemeni governorates. (SPA)
  • The training covers various fields, including food processing, livestock care, incense and perfume making, photography, background design, gift wrapping, and sewing and embroidery

MARIB: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief has delivered equipment to 90 people in Yemen as part of a vocational empowerment project aimed at improving livelihoods in Marib Governorate.

The training covers various fields, including food processing, livestock care, incense and perfume making, photography, background design, gift wrapping, and sewing and embroidery.

The skills are intended to enable beneficiaries to start their own businesses.

The project aims to empower 1,500 beneficiaries across several Yemeni governorates.

The initiative is part of broader humanitarian and relief efforts provided by the Kingdom, through KSrelief, to improve living conditions and create income-generating opportunities for all sections of the Yemeni population.

 


Attempt to smuggle 47,927 captagon pills thwarted

Authorities in ֱ arrested individuals carrying captagon pills at the Al-Haditha border crossing. (SPA)
Authorities in ֱ arrested individuals carrying captagon pills at the Al-Haditha border crossing. (SPA)
Updated 17 October 2025

Attempt to smuggle 47,927 captagon pills thwarted

Authorities in ֱ arrested individuals carrying captagon pills at the Al-Haditha border crossing. (SPA)
  • Al-Harbi said that the authority continues to tighten customs control over the Kingdom’s imports and exports, standing guard against all smuggling attempts

RIYADH: The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority thwarted an attempt to smuggle 47,927 captagon pills at the Al-Haditha border crossing.

The pills were concealed in a truck entering the Kingdom.

Hamoud Al-Harbi, spokesperson of the authority, said the drugs were discovered when the truck underwent customs procedures and inspections using security technologies upon arrival.

Following the seizure, the authority coordinated with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control, leading to the arrest of four individuals identified as the recipients of the seized narcotics within the Kingdom.

Al-Harbi said that the authority continues to tighten customs control over the Kingdom’s imports and exports, standing guard against all smuggling attempts.

 


Saudi Netzero platform partners with conservation network to boost nature-driven climate technologies

Saudi Netzero platform partners with conservation network to boost nature-driven climate technologies
Updated 17 October 2025

Saudi Netzero platform partners with conservation network to boost nature-driven climate technologies

Saudi Netzero platform partners with conservation network to boost nature-driven climate technologies
  • Agreement seeks to place Kingdom at forefront of climate innovation, sustainable economic transformation, and the nurturing of entrepreneurs in environmental technologies
  • Netzero works with communities to connect afforestation projects with businesses that want to offset carbon emissions, meet sustainability goals and help restore ecosystems

RIYADH: ֱ’s Netzero platform has formed a strategic partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature to help advance the Kingdom’s 2060 net-zero targets, and accelerate nature-based climate solutions throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

The agreement seeks to position ֱ at the forefront of climate innovation and sustainable economic transformation, and reinforce its expanding role in nurturing the development of entrepreneurs who can create sophisticated environmental technologies on Saudi soil, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The goal is to showcase a distinctly Saudi approach that effectively connects breakthrough innovations with on-the-ground environmental protection and climate responses.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Agreement seeks to place Kingdom at forefront of sustainable economic transformation, and the nurturing of entrepreneurs in environmental technologies.

• Netzero works with communities to connect afforestation projects with businesses that want to offset carbon emissions, meet sustainability goals and help restore ecosystems.

Netzero works with communities to connect afforestation projects with businesses that want to offset their carbon emissions, meet sustainability goals, help restore ecosystems and make a difference for future generations. IUCN is a global environmental network that unites governments, civil society and scientific experts in efforts to conserve nature and promote sustainable development.

Netzero’s founder and CEO, Mohammed Al-Khalid, described the agreement as a watershed moment for the application of Saudi-developed technologies in conservation work. His organization has built cutting-edge digital infrastructure to track environmental impacts, monitor recovery of vegetation, and optimize tree-planting campaigns, he said, resulting in unprecedented transparency in the measurement of outcomes, and improved climate gains.

The partnership will pursue several strategic goals, he added, including the restoration of ecosystems at scale through pioneering nature-based approaches that address climate disruption and rejuvenate native biodiversity; the safeguarding of wildlife and natural habitats by merging intelligent technologies with IUCN’s deep conservation expertise; and the strengthening of local communities through knowledge-sharing initiatives and the development of environmental skills that can promote sustainable livelihoods.

Al-Khalid stressed that the combination of Saudi-engineered environmental technologies with field conservation demonstrates the readiness of the Kingdom to share its technical solutions with the world. Netzero’s digital platforms rank among the region’s pioneering systems in their ability to accurately quantify the effects of carbon, and monitor reforestation efforts through the use of artificial intelligence and geographic data analysis, he added.

Hani El-Shaer, the regional director of IUCN’s Regional Office for West Asia, said the agreement reflects a mutual dedication to the deployment of workable, nature-based solutions that build climate resilience. He added that the pairing of Saudi innovation with global conservation knowledge would produce measurable results in ecosystem recovery, while advancing national and regional environmental agendas.

The Netzero platform was launched through ֱ’s national Sidra program under the auspices of Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.