JEDDAH, 26 February 2006 — Two Indian pilgrims who were arrested for bringing into Saudi Arabia 250 grams of “khash khash”, the poppy seeds commonly used in Indian dishes, were released on Friday.
Ausaf Sayeed, the Indian consul general in Jeddah, told Arab News yesterday that the two — Siraj Fareed Muhammad and his aunt, Hanifa Yousuf — were sent back to India on Friday evening. Sayeed thanked the Haj Ministry and the Makkah Governorate for viewing the case with sympathy and expediting their release. The travel formalities of the arrested pilgrims were completed on Wednesday.
As reported earlier, “khash khash” is as common as salt or pepper in India, but the two pilgrims from the western Indian state of Gujarat discovered that this specific poppy seed is a no-no in Saudi Arabia only when they were arrested on arrival at the Jeddah airport on Dec. 31.
If cultivated, “khash khash” produces opium flowers (known by the scientific name Papaver somniferum) whose sap is harvested to produce heroin.
The case, which was first reported in Arab News, had shocked hundreds of expat families in the Kingdom. Although many knew the substance was banned, they had no idea that bringing in a mere 250 grams of “khash khash” would have had such dire consequences.
