No legal respite for ‘innocent carriers’ of contraband items
Customs Department warns travellers over carrying luggage without knowing the contents in them
The Customs Department seized 1,286 contraband items including narcotic drugs, pills, gemstones, pearls, weapons, ammunition, alcohol, currencies and tobacco and its derivatives in 2017 alone, it was learnt. And among those arrested were many innocent individuals who were used as carriers of these illegal goods without their knowledge.
In light of these incidents, General Abdulla Hamad Al Kubaisi, the Director-General of Customs Inspection and Customs Affairs, has warned travellers from carrying luggage bags given by others without knowing the contents in it. The official said his department plans an awareness campaign to alert passengers over carrying goods from one country to the other without knowing what they are carrying. “Many expatriates have been arrested for trying to bring in contraband items to the Kingdom.
When we probe into details, we come to know that these luggages were handed over to them by their relatives, friends or acquaintances with an aim to use them as carriers of banned items including narcotic products.
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