Three Saudi men held for peddling drugs on Snapchat during pandemic

RIYADH: Three Saudi men were arrested after they allegedly sold illegal drugs on the short video-story sharing platform Snapchat over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, police said.

“The men were arrested and charged with possession and selling of hashish via Snapchat,” Captain Mohammad Al Najidi, spokesperson for the General Directorate for Narcotics Control, said.

According to a search warrant affidavit, the search raids on the houses of suspects yielded nine kilograms of hashish altogether.

The narcotics control watchdog’s spokesperson Al Najidi said all preliminary legal measures were taken against the suspects, and they were referred to the Public Prosecution, pending trial.

It may be noted that anyone found dealing in drugs in Saudi Arabia is liable for the death penalty.

Separately from the KSA, the kingdom has slapped fine on recording Ramadan fights in Saudi Arabia and posting them as funny pranks.

As per details, taking photos or shooting videos of others is an invasion of their privacy, or defamation, and can lead to an SR500,000 fine, in addition to a one-year jail term, a legal advisor warned.

Badr Bin Saeed Al Maliki warned that some people used to shoot videos of others fighting especially during Ramadan and post these clips as funny pranks, which is a defamation offense, punishable by a year in prison and a fine to the tune of SR500,000 or either penalty.