Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Egyptian Consulate here has facilitated the return journey of an elderly female pilgrim after she was acquitted of drug smuggling charges following a four-month probe and trial.

Saadia Abdel Salam, 74, was arrested at Yanbu airport in March with 75,000 Tramadol tablets in her possession. The opioid pain medication is banned in the Kingdom.

The woman finally traveled back home on Wednesday. The consulate expressed its gratitude to officials especially the prosecution authorities in the two countries, which cooperated to bring out the truth and solve the case.

Consulate officials also made arrangements for the woman to visit Makkah and Madinah after her release from custody. They also allowed the woman's daughter to visit the Kingdom and meet with her.

Though Abdel Salam was released some time after her arrest, she had to remain in the Kingdom to complete the legal proceedings. The woman is all praise for the Saudi authorities who treated her like their own mother, according to reports.

The elderly woman hailing from Naboruh town in Dakahlia governorate, 180 km away from Cairo, was tricked by a neighbor named Abdullah Mohammed Al-Manzalawy into carrying the drugs into the Kingdom.

The neighbor informed Abdel Salam that a Saudi national would finance the Umrah trip for 15 individuals, including her, to travel to Makkah to pray for his sick son. The neighbor advised her not to carry any goods along. However, prior to her departure, the man gave her a bag and asked her to hand it over to the Saudi man who was sponsoring her Umrah trip upon arrival in the Kingdom.

Abdel Salam was arrested immediately after landing at Yanbu Airport on March 20 as the bag contained the banned Tramadol tablets. Tramadol is a powerful opiate pain reliever prescribed for patients experiencing severe pain. The drug is widely abused in Egypt.

The woman's case has drawn significant public attention among Egyptian expatriates in the Kingdom as well as back home. Her arrest caused outrage in her hometown where people organized rallies demanding the capture of the real culprits.

Investigators revealed that three people, including a woman, were implicated in tricking the victim, according to Egyptian press reports. The Egyptian police successfully nabbed the prime accused, who confessed to the crime.

They also revealed that Abdel Salam was only one of ten people who were about to face the same fate.