Original subtitles

(smooth rhythmic music)

Monday night on the outskirts of Riyadh.

(radio mumbles)

And this is a drugs raid.

Saudi Arabia is facing a surge

in the smuggling of illegal drugs,

and it's a battle the authorities are deterrent to win.

(person speaks in foreign language)

Over the last three years,

there'd been nearly 120,000 drug arrests.

Police and customs are seizing record amounts of hashish,

probably the largest haul in history was in Saudi Arabia.

But there's an even bigger problem: Amphetamines.

More pills are found here than anywhere else in the world.

(person speaks in foreign language)

(person speaks in foreign language)

The global drugs trade

is threatening to engulf the kingdom.

This is the story of how Saudi Arabia is fighting back

and catching the criminals.

(person speaks in foreign language)

Saudi Arabia doesn't readily publicize

its social problems.

For the first time ever, this film shows the Saudi police,

customs, and border patrol in action.

(people yelling in foreign language)

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

Near the edge of the city is a heavily fortified building.

It's home to the special support forces unit.

One of six elite drug squads operating in the kingdom.

Here, 90 officer work on the biggest

and most dangerous cases in the Riyadh area.

(Iman person speaks in foreign language)

The unit is led

by Colonel Iman Abdul Al-Azavi, a drug squad officer

with nearly 25 years experience

both in the kingdom and overseas.

(person speaks in foreign language)

Over the last three years,

Colonel Iman's unit has investigated

more than 800 drug crimes and arrested nearly 1,500 people.

(Iman speaks in foreign language)

Saudi Arabia now accounts

for more than a quarter of the amphetamine seized worldwide,

67 million pills last year.

Only experienced soldiers are allowed to join the unit.

That's because they're not just battling crime.

They're fighting a war.

(Iman speaks in foreign language)

(tense music)

For the first time, members of the unit

were given permission to speak about their work on camera.

To protect their identities were not showing their faces.

(people speaking in foreign language)

Colonel Iman's unit has just had

an anonymous tip off.

The source has told them

about a large volume amphetamine supplier.

They've been given the suspect mobile phone number

and his family name.

The information leads them to an address in South Riyadh.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

We followed a member of the unit

throughout this investigation.

Mohammed, not his real name,

has been a drug squad officer for nearly 30 years.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

Mohammed belongs to a 12-man team

of plain clothes officers.

They work in shifts to provide round the clock surveillance.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

Other members of Mohamed's team

are stationed on nearby rooftops watching the suspect.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

Mohamed and his colleagues

are hoping they'll find evidence to arrest

not just this dealer, but the whole network

that's supplying drugs to the streets of Riyadh.

(uneasy music) (group chattering)

Like every other country, the drug problem in Saudi Arabia

is driven by the number of users.

Without their demand, there'd be no reason to import drugs.

Every day, dozens of people, Saudis and foreigners,

are arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

In every big city prison, there are cells

that reveal the sheer scale of the problem.

This man has been caught with amphetamines.

(person speaks in foreign language)

Typically, amphetamines were used

by truck drivers to keep awake on long journeys.

Now, the pills are used by students studying for exams

or anyone wanting a quick buzz.

But they can be powerfully addictive.

(person speaks in foreign language)

This is the Amal Hospital in Dammam,

one of five centers in the kingdom

providing specialist treatment for addicts,

part of the government's expanding program

of reeducation and rehabilitation.

Many of the patients being treated here

have been destroyed by drugs.

Like this man, an addict from the age of 14.

Such is the stigma of addiction,

that he didn't want us to show his identity.

(person speaks in foreign language)

The man now works at the hospital

helping other addicts.

(person speaks in foreign language)

(tense music)

The government's response

is not just to track down the dealers, it's to stop drugs

coming into the kingdom in the first place.

Saudi Arabia has more than 8,000 kilometers

of land and sea borders.

Each region faces a different kind of threat.

In the east, on the border with Bahrain,

it's mainly individual smugglers,

young and old, Saudi and foreign,

who are recruited or coerced to bring in drugs.

(uneasy music)

It's a Wednesday afternoon,

and customs offices have received a tip off

from the General Directorate of Narcotics control.

They stop a 22-year-old man

on his way to start a job in Riyadh.

He's been caught trying to smuggle in

nearly a kilogram of heroin.

He's claiming that back in Pakistan

he was forced to swallow packets of the drug at gunpoint.

Two men with a gun and one pistol.

They told me to eat.

I asked them, "What is in this?"

And they tortured me and said, "Just eat."

And they said, "If you told anyone I kill your cousin

and your parents."

The man was taken to hospital

where x-rays showed a hundred capsules

containing pure heroin in his stomach.

Are you scared about what will happen now?

My parents are very poor. They don't know. (sobbing)

I'm a gentle boy. I'm not a criminal.

We have no way of knowing

if what he says is true,

but the quantity he had concealed inside him

would be worth between four and $500,000 on the street.

But you must know

how severe are the penalties

for smuggling drugs to Saudi Arabia.

I don't know, sir.

If he's convicted of trafficking,

he faces the possibility of the death sentence.

(tense music)

Individual smugglers account for only a small proportion

of the quantities brought in by the drug gangs.

In the Eastern province The biggest threat comes by sea.

Here at Dammam port amid the cargo ships and containers

are two Iranian fishing boats seized in 2012.

They were carrying more than a ton of hashish.

Brigadier Abdullah Al Jamil is in charge of tackling drugs

in the Eastern province.

He and his man are facing a huge challenge.

Much of the province's long frontier is coastal.

It also borders six different countries

(Abdullah speaks in foreign language)

(tense music)

Many of the raids in the kingdom

are coordinated here, in Riyadh,

at the General Directorate of Narcotics Control.

The GDNC is at the heart of the government's fight back

against the traffickers.

(uneasy music)

This is the first time cameras have been allowed

inside this intelligence nerve center.

Here, information is received, analyzed, and shared

between police and customs, both in the kingdom and abroad.

Colonel Abdullah Al Atram

leads the general director for operations.

(Abdullah speaks in foreign language)

The GDNC coordinates

all anti-drug operations from its high-tech control room.

(Abdullah speaks in foreign language)

That operation is happening

just a few kilometers away in south Riyadh.

Mohamed and the rest of the team

have been following the suspected amphetamine supplier

for over a week.

Now they have information that could lead them

to the man who's financing the deal.

Today, Mohamed's repeatedly driving past the suspect's house

so he can monitor the situation without being noticed.

(Mohamed speaks in foreign language)

Mohamed had planned

on taking his two children out for the day,

but the investigation comes first.

(uneasy music)

(Mohamed speaks in foreign language)

Suddenly Mohammad sees the suspect leave.

Tailing a suspect without being noticed is no easy task.

Four other drug squad vehicles are also taking part.

Mohammed stays 100 meters behind the suspect's car.

(Mohamed speaks in foreign language)

(uneasy music)

(radio mumbles)

(Mohamed speaks in foreign language)

This kind of operation takes patience

and weeks of hard work, and there's no guarantee of success.

Mohammed and his fellow officers must now wait

for a drug shipment to arrive.

They're hoping to catch the supplier red-handed.

Meanwhile, 900 kilometers south,

there's another kind of drugs threat: hashish smuggling.

This is the western section of the border with Yemen.

(rhythmic music)

50 kilometers of barbed wire fence

and the no man's land alongside it,

policed by the border patrol.

Much of it overseen by Colonel Hassan Aluesh.

(Hassan speaks in foreign language)

The Saudis put the fence up in 2009.

It's four meters high in parts and has been highly effective

in reducing the number of Yemenis crossing.

(Hassan speaks in foreign language)

But once the fence ends,

it's a different story.

The border is 1,500 kilometers long,

so the border patrol can stop

only a few of the Yemenis trying to cross.

Colonel Rukan Maid Al Jaban

is in charge of this section of the border.

(Rukan speaks in foreign language)

As if to prove the point,

a few minutes later, a bus arrives from Yemen.

Many of these men are simply hoping to find work,

but often those trying to cross illegally

include drug smugglers.

(uneasy music)

Later, under cover of darkness,

a different story is revealed.

Border patrol officers are using a night vision camera

to follow the action just across the border in Yemen

a thousand meters away.

(patrol officer speaks in foreign language)

The night vision cameras

capture the would-be migrants

picking their way across the mountains.

In fact, they're smugglers.

Each is carrying between four and eight kilos of hashish

in specially adapted slings.

If they get through, they'll be paid about $70.

That's a lot of money in Yemen.

So there's no shortage of volunteers.

(patrol officer speaks in foreign language)

Then one of the border patrol men

fires a warning shot.

(gun shoots)

The smugglers flee dodging bullets and dropping the drugs.

(crickets chirping)

The town of Jazan near the Yemeni border.

Offices from customs and the local drug squad

witnessed the burning of their latest haul:

three quarters of a ton of hashish.

In 2011, Saudi authorities seized about 21 tons of the drug.

Most of it came from Yemen.

(customs officer speaks in foreign language)

These drug gangs are not afraid

to use deadly force.

(dramatic music)

The stakes are high, and every day drugs officers

all over Saudi Arabia are risking their lives.

(somber music)

Over the last 20 years, more than 400

of Saudi Arabia's security officers

have died at the hands of the drug smugglers.

Since the penalty for trafficking is death,

some criminals feel they have nothing to lose

by killing their pursuers.

It's been three weeks since Mohammed and his team

started the investigation.

Tonight they're preparing to move in

and they're taking no chances.

(uneasy music)

(radio mumbles)

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

13 officers will be taking part in the raid.

They'll patrol the area in their cars,

until they get the final go ahead.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

Mohammed is expecting another dealer

to arrive at the house to buy the amphetamines.

Then, the team will arrest both men.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

It's almost midnight.

Mohamed and his colleagues have been on standby now

for four hours.

(radio mumbles)

The commander has called off the raid

because the buyer hasn't turned up.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

They'll try again another day.

The battle against drugs is nationwide.

This is the frontier post at Hadithah

on the border with Jordan.

It's the busiest crossing point in the Middle East,

up to 4,000 lorries and 2,000 cars

pass through here every day.

It's also the point of entry for most of the amphetamines

that end up in Riyadh and the kingdom's other big cities.

And just like the kingdoms at the borders,

Hadithah faces its own challenges

in dealing with the drugs threat.

Zayed (indistinct) started working

as a trainee customs officer at Hadithah

nearly 20 years ago.

Today he's in charge.

(Zayed speaks in foreign language)

Zayed and his men who sees so many vehicles

that this area is now almost full,

testimony not just to how many people

are trying to bring drugs in,

but to the authorities' success in combating them.

(Zayed speaks in foreign language)

And the methods used to bring in drugs

are nothing if not ingenious.

Zayed has created a museum of drug smuggling at Hadithah.

Today, he's showing it

to a group of trainee customs officers.

(Zayed speaks in foreign language)

Every exhibit in Zayed's museum

has been used to transport drugs.

(people speaking in foreign language)

For the would-be customs officers,

there's a simple message: trust nobody.

(Zayed speaks in foreign language)

Back at GDNC headquarters in Riyadh,

they've just learned that a large shipment of amphetamines

is heading towards Hadithah.

They alert Zayed and his team.

(uneasy music)

(group speaks in foreign language)

Riyadh puts Hadithah customs on alert.

They're told to look out for an old GMC

that's believed to be stuffed with drugs .

Elsewhere in Riyadh,

the operation that Mohamed's been working on

has reached a critical stage.

For three and a half weeks,

the team have been working undercover, watching a house

they believe contains a large quantity of amphetamines.

They've been waiting for the buyer to show up,

and now they think they've seen him.

Back at base, commandos discuss

when to go ahead with the raid.

(group speaks in foreign language)

(Mohammad speaks in foreign language)

Mohammad and the team move into position.

(dog barking)

(uneasy music)

(gun clanking)

(radio mumbles)

(tires screeching)

(guns shooting) (people yelling)

(tense music)

(people speaking in foreign language)

The officers have caught the dealer

and buyer weighing and packaging 270,000 amphetamine pills.

(Mohammed speaks in foreign language)

This isn't the end of the story.

Now it's time to go after the money man.

(Mohammad speaks in foreign language)

(people yelling)

(people speaking in foreign language)

(people speaking in foreign language)

The team has arrested three men,

and ceased drugs worth $1.8 million

along with a large amount of cash and three guns.

(person speaks in foreign language)

For Mohammed and his team,

it's been a good night's work.

On this occasion, the long hours spent watching and waiting

have finally paid off.

Back at Hadithah on Saudi Arabia's border with Jordan,

it's Sunday afternoon.

Vigilant officers have just spotted

a suspicious looking vehicle.

(group speaks in foreign language)

Custom's officer Hani Al Zayed describes what happened next.

(Hani speaks in foreign language)

There are drugs in the doors,

under the seats, in the boot, everywhere.

The head of the regional drug squad,

Colonel Abdul Al Shamri arrives to see the haul for himself.

(group speaks in foreign language)

Among the drugs

are different grades of amphetamines.

The most expensive is known as Lexus.

(group speaks in foreign language)

The driver is a 52-year-old Saudi man.

He and his Syrian wife have been arrested.

He's denying all knowledge of the drugs

and how they came to be in the car.

There are 2.5 million amphetamine pills

worth more than $9 million.

(uneasy music)

As a suspected trafficker,

the driver is taken to the drug squad headquarters

to be questioned by Colonel Al Shamri

and the local GDNC captain.

If he talks, Colonel Al Shamri's team may be able to arrest

the other members of the gang.

One more step towards winning the war on drugs

(group speaks in foreign language)

The driver has a choice.

He can come clean and admit where he got the drugs

and who he plans to take them to in Saudi Arabia,

or he can face the consequences.

(group speaks in foreign language)

Despite all the evidence,

the driver is refusing to cooperate.

He denies any knowledge of the drugs

claiming that someone must have planted them,

while the car was in a garage in Jordan.

He says an anonymous buyer

was supposed to pay for the car

once it was brought to Saudi Arabia.

(group speaks in foreign language)

The two officers know far more

than they're letting on.

Working with their Jordanian colleagues,

they've been tracking the shipment for nearly six weeks.

(group speaks in foreign language)

(phone ringing)

The driver is found to have no fewer

than four mobile phones.

They ring constantly. (phone ringing)

Officers suspect it's the buyer

wanting to know what's happened to the drugs.

(group speaks in foreign language)

After an hour's questioning,

the driver has revealed nothing.

Even when the evidence appears overwhelming,

many suspects would rather keep quiet,

such is the code of silence among the drug gangs.

His file will now be passed to prosecutors

who will decide what he'll be charged with.

Nobody in Saudi Arabia pretends

that dealing with the drugs threat is easy

or that there are straightforward solutions.

(person speaks in foreign language)

But the Riyadh drug squad

and their colleagues across the country

are determined to do all they can to stem the tide.

(person speaks in foreign language)

(dramatic rhythmic music)