By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: Smugglers trying to push contraband into the country are using new and innovative as well as old and conventional ways to hoodwink ever-agile customs officials at entry points.
The most oft-used and easy-to-detect method of hiding a prohibited item in a hollowed-out book shown mostly in Hollywood films, continues to be the modus operandi of many a smuggler.
A senior customs official heading the department’s pavilion at the 32nd GCC Traffic Week which comes to an end today, hinted that some new methods of smuggling forbidden items have been unearthed by his department and they include the use of groundnut shells (peeled and re-sealed) to arguably push drugs into the country.
On display at the pavilion of the General Authority of Customs at the 32nd GCC Traffic Week are not only the above-said tools used by the smugglers to carry out their sinister operations but also the forbidden goods they tried to push into the country. The list of exhibits also includes counterfeit goods that people tried to bring into the country and some of the items that are banned.
Interesting as it may seem, any pen fitted with a camera is not allowed to be brought into Qatar as, understandably, people can click pictures without the other person knowing that he or she is being photographed.
Also prohibited are ‘Tramadol’ tablets, which are basically a prescription painkiller but contain opioid and are, arguably, prohibited due to their harms and possible misuse. Electronic cigarettes are banned, too, the official in-charge of the customs pavilion at the Traffic Week, said.
According to Abdulrehman Al Nuaimi, this is the first time the General Authority of Customs is taking part in the regional Traffic Week.
“The idea is to raise public awareness about the department and its role as the first line of defence in the country against things that are dangerous and prohibited, as also against fake goods. All items on display at the pavilion have been caught by the Qatari customs at different points of entry, at land borders, at the port as well as at the airport. Also on display, as said earlier, are some of the tricks smugglers were busted using to carry out their sinister activities, he said. In remarks to this newspaper, Al Nuaimi said yesterday: “The GCC Traffic Week has provided us an opportunity to directly interact with the people”. When told that counterfeit products should actually be caught by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, he said since the goods are prohibited the customs department must catch them at the very point of entry. “We are showing these banned items for public awareness,” said Al Nuaimi.
The Peninsula
