A man was caught trying to smuggle 14 bottles of hard booze taped to his body into Saudi Arabia, reports the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The gentleman, who was not identified, was nabbed by customs officials on his way back from neighboring Bahrain, on the 16-mile-long King Fahd Causeway that links the two Gulf emirates, said the head of customs, Fahd Dhufallah al-Otaibi.
The hooch was concealed by the man’s traditional flowing, white robes.
All alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and the authorities do not trend towards laxity. Public flogging and lengthy detentions are common punishments.
Even foreigners can get caught up in the web. Last October, a British man caught with moonshine was sentenced to a public lashing. Karl Andree, 74, was arrested by Saudi religious police and spent more than a year in prison. He was spared flogging because the entreaties of the British government.