Qatar customs seized drugs, snakes at airport last year

Qatar's customs officials were kept busy last year with several travellers trying to smuggle a myriad of illegal items into the country.

Bagfuls of poisonous snakes, rare species of other reptiles, huge quantities of narcotics were among the banned items customs officials seized last year, The Peninsula reports.

The officials made 355 seizures of narcotics, including hashish, heroin, narcotic pills, marijuana and other banned substances, General Authority of Customs has disclosed.

The most surprising haul was a large number of snakes concealed in six bags, from a passenger at Hamad International Airport (HIA). The authority said the bags contained 52 reptiles, including snakes.

In another incident at the airport, officials foiled an attempt by an Asian passenger to smuggle in 17kg of marijuana on a direct flight to Doha. Wrapped with several layers of plastic adhesive, the 'dangerous stuff' was in three packets concealed in clothes.

Besides, about 1.5kg of 'narcotic opium' was recovered from a passenger on a flight from an Asian country. It was detected with the help of a fingerprint expert from the Ministry of Interior.

In another case, officials seized a huge cache of banned 'Tramadol' pills concealed in sealed tea boxes, from an Arab passenger.

The boxes were wrapped in several layers and the pills hidden in the bottom of the passenger's bag. Officials also foiled an attempt to smuggle in 3kg of marijuana by another passenger.

In another major haul, a customs team seized 23,000 banned 'psychotropic pills' from an Arab passenger at the airport.

Other major seizures included 5.4kg of marijuana from another passenger. [The Peninsula]