Cairo airport customs officials foil bids to smuggle jewelry, drugs, drones

One passenger of Egyptian origin arriving on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was caught carrying 2,400 4.5-millimeter air-pressure bullets and two electronic devices. (Shutterstock)
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Updated 12 February 2023
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Cairo airport customs officials foil bids to smuggle jewelry, drugs, drones

CAIRO: Customs authorities at Cairo International Airport recently foiled smuggling attempts involving items such as ammunition, bladed weapons, drones fitted with cameras, gold jewelry, and drugs.

One passenger of Egyptian origin arriving on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was caught carrying 2,400 4.5-millimeter air-pressure bullets and two electronic devices, prohibited under Egyptian law without special permits.

In another case, a passenger on an Egyptian Airlines flight from New York was found in possession of five penknives and an electric shock device, all of which were seized.

The traveller also failed to declare two electronic cigarettes containing anesthetic oil and a bottle of the same oil, two wireless devices, and a pair of field glasses.

Two drones equipped with cameras, 23 mobile phones, and eight tablets, were also seized.

Legal action is being taken against both passengers.

In addition, officials thwarted an individual, flying with Egyptian Airlines from Dubai, trying to sneak in gold jewelry hidden among clothes.

The seized items, which weighed around 700 grams, included 20 chains, 27 pairs of earrings, three individual earrings, a bracelet, and a pendant.

Separately, an Egyptian passenger arriving at Cairo from Milan on an Egyptian Airlines flight was arrested for having 602 tablets of illegal drugs.

Another Egyptian, who had flown in from Entebbe in Uganda, also with Egyptian Airlines, was held after being discovered with 99 pills.

Cairo airport customs staff also intercepted a passenger flying from New York hiding sweets and chocolate laced with drugs.


Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office

Updated 44 min 47 sec ago
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Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office

  • The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza

JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.