eight women were caught for drug smuggling during the beginning of 2008 and the middle of 2010, three of them Saudis, Al-Riyadh Arabic daily reported on Monday. Abdullah Al-Kharboush, Saudi Customs spokesman, told Al-Riyadh that some of the women involved may have been “forced into it” by husbands or relatives who believed that females or elderly women might more easily evade the attention of the authorities. Some of the women, Al-Kharboush said, were accompanied by children and other family members in a bid to disguise their activities. “These tricks are well known to customs officers, and they are handled with precision,” he told Al-Riyadh. He also praised the work of female customs inspection officers deployed at all the Kingdom's exit and entry points. “They are an important factor in the work of customs, and have prevented in the last few years many smuggling operations through their alertness and diligence, as well as the training they receive like all other customs staff,” he said. Al-Riyadh cited one smuggling attempt in which a woman of undisclosed nationality was found with pills hidden inside the bellies of eight sheep frozen and packed into a large case. Several other instances also involved hiding drugs inside food products, purportedly so that the smell would cover up the presence of narcotics, while one case involved a woman who wrapped drugs around her body beneath her clothes.
