OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Mona Jibran, AlArabiya.net)
A Palestinian drug enforcement official said drugs are often hidden in women's bodies – including their private parts – to smuggle illicit substances from Egypt to Gaza.
The latest of such cases was a Palestinian woman who stuffed her bra with large amounts of heroin after her breasts were removed due to cancer, Colonel Abdul-Halim al-Aloul, Head of the Palestinian Drug Combating Department, told AlArabiya.net.
Other women hide drugs in their hair or armpits, he said, and some even resort to more private areas such as their vaginas, considered a relatively easy way to smuggle the illegal substances.
Aloul said pills – usually ecstasy or LSD – are simply wrapped in small plastic bags and inserted in women's vaginas. He said there is little chance of being discovered as women's bodies are rarely searched in the conservative society.
"Only X-rays or well-trained dogs can detect the drugs, and we have neither."
Aloul accused Israel of laxity in combating drug trafficking into Palestinian areas, both from Egypt and Israel itself, especially Occupied Jerusalem.
"We do not control the crossings, and Israel doesn't care if these drugs are all over Palestine," he said, adding that drugs constitute a real danger to Palestinians.
Aloul said Israeli settlers in Occupied Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem often cultivate drugs on Palestinian land. Palestinian security forces enjoy little -- if any -- authority over these areas, which are controlled by the Israeli army, he added.
Afaf Rabei of the Jerusalem-based al-Sadiq al-Taieb (Good Friend) rehabilitation center told AlArabiya.net that she treats many cases of drug overdoses and substance abuse, especially LSD cases among children as young as 12 years old.
The most common drugs, Rabei added, are morphine, opium, heroin and marijuana. But the most dangerous is hash, which sometimes comes mixed with toxic substances, she warned.
"This makes the addict totally lose contact with reality and become extremely aggressive. In many cases, it leads to death," Rabei said.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid) |
