RIYADH, (AFP) – Saudi customs officials seized 17 million amphetamine pills along with 687 kilogrammes (1,514 pounds) of hashish and sizeable amounts of heroin and opium in the first six months of 2010, officials said on Sunday.

They also seized from smugglers 44,000 bottles of alcohol, which is strictly forbidden in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, said customs spokesman Abdallah Kharboush, cited by the official news agency SPA.

In the past two years Saudi customs and narcotics officials have intercepted tens of millions of amphetamine pills, usually a synthetic version known in the region as Captagon, which is popular with labourers and students.

In December, authorities announced they had arrested more than 150 people in a huge operation which pulled in large amounts of Captagon pills and 2.37 tonnes (5,000 pounds) of hashish.