(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Accepting baggage from strangers to deliver it to their counterparts at the arrival destination - often considered a gesture of kindness by people - can create complications, warned the Sharjah Police.
The police officials have recently noticed a number of people at the entrance of departure terminal of Sharjah International Airport, requesting travellers to carry suitcases and bags, to deliver it at the destination.
"Many naive people arriving or departing with other people's bags, without knowing its content, have been victims of smuggling materials banned here or in other countries," said the police sources.
Colonel Younis Al Hajri, deputy director of the department of ports and airports at the Sharjah Police, explained that travellers carrying baggage without knowing its content and source, are at the risk of being exposed to legal accountability if airport authorities discover prohibited materials.
"People who take vacations to international destinations are often not well versed in the rules and regulations. The kind act of carrying baggage can ruin the journey, or even their life when they accept the luggage without knowing the contents. The moment they accept to carry the baggage, they own them temporarily, and are fully responsible for them as they go through the security systems and customs."
Colonel Al Hajri said they have launched awareness campaign titled "Safe Travel" to educate public about the danger of carrying the baggage of strangers, which may contain prohibited materials that could lead the traveler to be held accountable. He added that the campaign was launched after the police authorities realised that travellers carry luggage with sharp materials or suspicious and prohibited drugs, which belong to other people.
Major Nader bin Yaarouf, director of awareness campaigns at the Sharjah Police, said the UAE government pays attention to the people who use the country's airports and roads. "We are working to educate travellers to avoid being sympathetic to strangers by carrying their bags for the purpose of delivery to a relative or friend in the arrival destination or help with the excess weight."
Major Yaarouf also stressed the need to refrain from carrying objects from strangers due to the potential danger in its contents. He added that this phenomenon started recently. "There are a number of courier and cargo companies specialised in transporting and sending parcels to any international destinations, which these people can make use of."
Baggage fraud victims Major Yaarouf said that his friend travelling to Bahrain was approached by an Asian man, who requested him to hand over the plastic bags which contained medicine for colon cancer for his father who lived in that country for 30 years.
"My friend accepted to take the bag but was stopped at the Sharjah airport because the bags contained illegal materials. He tried to convince the police that the bags did not belong to him but they sent him to jail. The police managed to arrest the owner of the bags who thought the traveller could get away with the airport security and reach to the receiver at the Bahrain Airport."
The Sharjah Police also arrested a couple from Eastern Europe who came to the UAE as tourists, for possessing illegal pills. The couple said the pills belonged to someone they didn't know and were given at the airport to hand it over in Sharjah. The couple spent a long time in jail until their embassy assigned a lawyer to defend them. But, later the police managed to arrest the man who was supposed to receive the pills after he tried to contact them.
Afkar Abdullah
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