It's a stinker: gun smuggling diaper plan falls foul of Yemen customs

Diapers put to their more traditional use (Photo courtesy of Baby Stepz)

Customs authorities in Hodeida Harbour reportedly confiscated a container loaded with 225 gun parts on Saturday.

The parts were hidden inside a shipment of baby diapers, which triggered the initial suspicions that it contained smuggled goods.

Hodeida Security Director Mohammed Al-Maqaleh said 225 gun pieces, reportedly sights, were confiscated. Amongst the shipment were 125 laser sights. The cargo initially raised eyebrows during the censoring process, he said. 

Mustafa Al-Mahdi, a coast guard representative, said inspectors in the harbor, in cooperation with the coast guard and Political Security, checked the cartons by X-ray and then manually.

State-run Saba News Agency reported that Salem Bin Buraik, the Hodeida Customs General Manager, said the container came from China through Jeddah Harbor. The gun pieces are still being held.

Merchant Yahia Hussein Qasim Al-Hoqbi ordered the gun sight shipment, Al-Maqaleh said.

Al-Hoqbi and those onboard the ship with the cartons have since been arrested on smuggling charges, according to Al-Maqaleh.

“Investigations are still in progress to reveal what the shipment was meant to be used for,” he said.

Aden Harbor witnessed a similar incident in October when a container coming from Turkey—and loaded with a large quantity of handguns inside biscuit cartons—was confiscated in the Free Zone of Aden.

By Amal Al-Yarisi

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