Manama: Bahrain’s Public Security Chief Major-General Tariq Hassan Al Hassan said joint efforts were underway between the security bodies in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to uncover the circumstances of the attempt to smuggle RDX – a highly explosive material- and detonators intended to be used in Saudi Arabia.

A spokesperson for the Saudi interior ministry on Friday said that security authorities on the King Fahad Causeway, the 25-kilometre terrestrial link between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, foiled an attempt to smuggle RDX and detonators.

The Saudi security men had doubts about the two men driving into Saudi Arabia and decided to search their car.

The search yielded 14 bags carefully hidden inside the back seats of the car.

According to the spokesperson, 11 bags contained more than 30 kilos of the RDX and two bags had 50 blasting caps. The last bag had a six-metre detonator cord.

Al Hassan paid tribute to the Saudi security officers for their competence and high vigilance that enabled them to foil the smuggling attempt and to arrest the perpetrators.

He added that bilateral cooperation had yielded laudable levels of success in many complex security operations, noting that the security situation the region required unified stances and greater coordination among security bodies among friendly countries to be able to address the challenges.