RIYADH — An organized gang has been busted here for smuggling money and gold abroad, and the members have been charged with money laundering and bribery, according to the Public Prosecution.

The Public Prosecution said in a statement Monday that: "In coordination and cooperation with the competent authorities, an organized gang was busted after they illegally collected money and smuggled it abroad."

The Public Prosecution also said that the total smuggled money amounted to SR64,860,000 in addition to quantities of gold weighing 19 kilograms. Investigations into the case ended with the gang members being accused of money laundering and bribery, it added.

Final sentences were issued against the culprits, ranging from imprisonment for up to 64 years in total, confiscation of SR1,020,690 seized from one of the perpetrators while he was in the process of preparing his travel procedures and confiscation of the vehicles used in the crime, the authority explained.

The accused citizens participating in the crime were each sentenced to a travel ban for a period similar to that of their imprisonment, while the accused foreigners were each sentenced to deportation from the country after completing their period of imprisonment, the statement said.

The statement added that procedures are now under way to recover the smuggled money from abroad.

The Public Prosecution stressed that it will spare no effort in implementing the directives of the country's leadership by strictly implementing the regulations against all those who are tempted to commit such crimes, preserving the capabilities and gains of this dear homeland and eliminating and fighting organized crime. — SPA