As Qatar works to catch the rising number of passengers attempting to smuggle narcotics through the Doha International Airport, the national carrier is getting credit for its role in the fight.

Speaking to Al Arab, the DIA’s Ahmad Al Khayarain said:

“There is a lot of cooperation to help tackle the issue. For instance, we work closely with the employees of Qatar Airways.

Those who transport drugs in their stomachs refuse to eat or drink and they of course become suspicious when the flight is long and they do not eat or drink anything.”

Qatar is becomingly an increasingly popular transit point for trafficking, in part because of the expansion of its national carrier, which now flies to several South American, Asian and African countries. 

According to officials, some 75 percent of the cocaine seized at the DIA last year came from Brazil, and the majority of apprehended drug mules have come from Nigeria and Tanzania. 

Just three months ago, a Tanzanian man died aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Sao Paolo, Brazil, to Doha, reportedly while trying to smuggle a large amount of narcotics inside his stomach.

Customs inspector Saif Al Kuwari told Al Arab, as translated by Gulf News:

“They really put their lives at risk by carrying between 40 and 110 pills in their stomachs. They usually receive $5,000 for their dirty work and quite often, the notes are fake.”

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Credit: Photo by Michael Renner