RIYADH: Saudi border guards had foiled attempts to smuggle large quantities of narcotics, hashish (cannabis), weapons and live ammunition inside the Kingdom, Colonel Ahmed Al-Towayan, the director of relations and media at the Ministry of Interior’s Agency for Security Affairs reported. The attempts were foiled during the first half of this year across the provinces of Jizan, Najran, and Asir. The haul included a total of 74 tons of the illicit intoxicating qat, 177 kilograms of hashish, 9,357 banned pills, 239 weapons of various types, and 3,362 live ammunition rounds. Al-Towayan noted that some 2,307 people were arrested for involvement in the aborted attempts, in addition to SR2,839,955 ($754,654) and 2,268 vehicles being impounded. Authorities also arrested 11,967 people for violating residency, work and border security systems.