On Thursday, a source indicated that Yemeni Coast Guard forces in collaboration with military ships belonging to coalition forces positioned in the Arab Sea managed to seize a Pakistani ship (Makran) boarding 10 ton of drugs.

The source added that the authorities conducted an investigation with the ship crew in preparations for completing other legal measures.

Yemen has turned into a transit country for drugs exported to Gulf countries, and the seized quantities of drugs reached by the end of 2007 115,000 kg of manufactured Hashish, 792,000 drug pills, 5 ton of Hashish and 2 kg of Heroin.

Security authorities arrested 225 smugglers in 2007 in 40 drug crimes, according to the General Administration for Fighting Drugs at the Ministry of Interior.

The administration also indicated that the number of those accused of smuggling drugs rose from 81 in 2005 to 204 in 2007. Similarly, the number of the non-Yemenis rose from 5 to 22.

In return, Yemeni security authorities face great hurdles in monitoring and controlling drug traders who use the country as a transit, especially when the country has a long coastline stretching for over 2,000 km.