Upon arrival at Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport, authorities discovered marijuana disguised among pineapples belonging to a passenger from an African country.

A cardboard box containing pineapples on a trip from a country well-known for producing this fruit raised eyebrows at Dubai Customs. They followed the package and questioned the passenger, who appeared bewildered, at the checkpoint about whether or not he was carrying any contraband. As expected, his response was negative.

After scanning the package, authorities found 399 rolls of marijuana weighing 417.30 grams concealed in black plastic bags inside the pineapples.

The passenger was scanned and searched as well, without any more results. After that, he was turned up to the Dubai Police's General Department of Anti-Narcotics.

According to Khalid Ahmed, acting director of the Passenger Operations Department at Dubai Customs, some traffickers transmit relatively small quantities of drugs as a test run before attempting larger shipments.

The Dubai Customs Department is "extremely attentive to these wretched attempts," and they make significant efforts to protect the public by halting the importation of illegal drugs. To avoid being caught by customs officials, smugglers often try to conceal their goods in the linings of their bags or by putting them inside their bodies.

There are strict procedures and programs in place to prevent any unlawful smuggling attempts," he said, despite the increasing number of passengers in Dubai, especially during the World Cup in Qatar and the beautiful winter season in the UAE.

Ahmed said they successfully prevented illegal smuggling because of the inspectors and the high-tech scanning equipment, such as the Smart Bag Inspection system, used at Dubai Airports.

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