Saudi Arabia

Law enforcement services in Saudi Arabia are provided by the Ministry of Interior (MOI), which is responsible for:

• National security and stability;
• Crime prevention, detection and investigation;
• Law and order.

MOI structure:

• Border Guard;
• Civil Defence;
• Command and Control Centre;
• King Fahd Security College;
• Legal Affairs and International Cooperation;
• Military Affairs;
• National Information Centre;
• Passports and identification;
• Public Security;
• Research Studies;
• Security Affairs;
• Special Security Forces;
• Technical Affairs;
• Wire and Wireless Communications.

The Saudi Arabia Police Force is part of the Ministry of Interior. The force is made up of two components:

• Police security force;
• Investigative police force.

INTERPOL Riyadh

The INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Saudi Arabia is part of the Ministry of Interior. It serves as the essential gateway for international investigations involving Saudi Arabia and its citizens.   INTERPOL Riyadh works regularly with all INTERPOL member countries, the General Secretariat and its Regional Bureaus across the world. It focuses a large part of its work on fighting transnational crime, and locating fugitives with a view to bringing them to justice.

INTERPOL Riyadh works around the clock seven days a week in a highly innovative and state-of-the-art work environment. It is made up of a large staff of administrators, assistants, translators, technical support staff, police officers, case officers and researchers specialized in fighting specific crime types. Activities are organized around specific crime fields, such as terrorism, drugs and counterfeiting.

Securing Saudi borders

As part of a strategy to boost national security and prevent criminal activity in Saudi Arabia, INTERPOL Riyadh has arranged for its frontline police officers across the country to have direct access to INTERPOL’s global databases.  Many officers in the field now have hands-on access to critical data on wanted persons, vehicles and stolen and lost travel documents. 

With this capacity, Saudi police officers can quickly determine if a person is a potential threat to national security. The Saudi Customs Department (responsible for stolen vehicle investigations) is one of the principal national partners to have access to INTERPOL databases.

Some of INTERPOL Riyadh’s principal domestic law enforcement partners include:

• General Directorate of Public Security;
• General Directorate of Investigation;
• General Directorate of Civil Defense;
• General Directorate of Border Guards;
• General Drugs Directorate;
• General Prisons Directorate.

National Ministries INTERPOL Riyadh works with regularly include:

• Customs; 
• Commission for Tourism & Antiquities;
• Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution; 
• Monetary Agency;
• Communications and Information Technology Commission.