RIYADH: The Department of Customs confirmed the awareness message regarding the importation and circulation of goods on its Twitter account.

“The message aims to remind the public that products bearing phrases or messages that are offensive to Islam and our traditions are not allowed,” an online publication quoted the department as saying.

In posting its awareness message on Twitter, the department wants to reach more people in disseminating information on banned items.

The move comes in the wake of arrests made by customs inspectors over prohibited items such as liquor.

Recently, the Saudi Press Agency reported that a smuggler was caught trying to sneak 14 bottles of liquor in his underwear into Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi man was stopped on his way back from Bahrain on the 16-mile King Fahd Causeway, according to the head of the Customs Department, Fahd Dhufallah Al-Otaibi.

“After a search, we detected bottles of booze which were attached with adhesive tape to the man’s upper and lower legs and hidden by the man’s traditional white robe,” he said.

Smugglers were also caught attempting to enter Saudi Arabia with thousands of cans of bear disguised as Pepsis. Customs officials intercepted the shady operation at Al-Batha border crossing with the United Arab Emirates

Border general manager Abdulrahman Al-Mahna said his officers “are always ready and alert” to smugglers’ increasingly imaginative attempts to bring contraband across the border.

“A truck carrying what first seemed to be normal cans of the soft drink Pepsi was stopped,” he said.

An estimated 48,000 cans of beer had been disguised with Pepsi branding, with customs officials peeling back the fake wrapping to uncover the beer and later posting photos on Twitter.

Officials also posted a video on an official account showing them cutting open a 24-pack of the fake Pepsi cans to reveal what was hidden underneath.