DUBAI // Airport customs inspectors foiled 155 attempts to smuggle into the UAE what they believed to be were black magic talismans.
Nearly 10,000 items associated with the practise of witchcraft and sorcery, weighing 97 kilograms in total, were seized from passengers arriving at Dubai International Airport.
Ahmed Abdullah bin Lahej, Dubai Customs director of passenger operations, said the items included amulets, worry beads, animal skins, knives, magic books, bags containing fish skeletons, animal bones, ampoules full of blood and other liquids and animal drawings.
Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director of Dubai Customs, said: “Practising sorcery and witchcraft is considered a dangerous epidemic threatening the security of the society by manipulating people’s minds and taking advantage of their needs to deceive them.
“We are committed to deterring all bids to smuggle prohibited materials into the country, which form a threat to the security and safety of the local community.”
He said bags were X-rayed at the airport for illicit imports. “Smugglers invent new methods trying to hoodwink customs officials,” he said.
The smugglers were mostly Asian, African or European.
Any item that could be associated with sorcery or black magic is prohibited under a decree by the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee.
arizvi2@thenational.ae
