Police at the Cairo International Airport arrested an Egyptian citizen returning from France on Friday with more than 600 narcotic pills and two packs marijuana in a box containing dates, according to airport authorities.
The customs officials found 620 pills of Tramadol, a potent opioid painkiller, along with marijuana wrapped in cellophane, hidden in a box of dates that the man brought with him from Paris.
Ibrahim Abdel-Latif, an official at the airport customs authority, told the Associated Press agency the passenger, whose identity was not identified, was arrested and faces possible charges for violating Egyptian anti-narcotics and smuggling laws.
Tramadol is listed by Egyptian authorities as an illegal drug because it is widely used as a substitute for heroin.
This was not the airport's first encounter with drug smuggling. Customs authorities say they routinely pick up foreigners and nationals alike for their attempt to smuggle the banned painkillers and amphetamines into the Middle East.
A 34-year-old British woman spent 13 months behind bars after she was caught trying to smuggle a few hundred Tramadol pills into Egypt last year.
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