Saudi customs officials have seized 19,000 bottles of liquor coming from the Gulf emirate of Dubai in three tanker trucks, a newspaper reported Saturday, September 8. The trucks were heading to Qatar, Kuwait and the western Saudi city of Jeddah through the Batha border post between the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, Al-Riyadh daily said, quoting a Saudi security source.
It made no reference to any arrests but added that the liquor, with a street value of about two million dollars, was hidden in special compartments on the trucks. Whisky sells for more than $100 a bottle on the black market in the Gulf monarchies and Saudi Arabia, which has recently clamped down on alcohol smuggling.
Around a dozen Westerners are in Saudi jails awaiting trial on alcohol charges as inquiries continue into possible links between bootlegging and a series of bomb attacks in the kingdom. — (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
