Cairo: 75-year-old Saadiya Abdel Salam's dream was to perform Umrah - but she never imagined that this innocuous wish will make her fall prey to a gang of drug dealers.
The Egyptian grandmum was tricked into carrying 75,000 Tramadol pills and other drugs into Saudi Arabia by men from her village - Dareen, who told her that a philanthropist had paid for her expenses and all she had to do was deliver a bag to him. She was told that the bag contained clothes for receiver's wife.
The unsuspecting woman was arrested at Yanbu airport for smuggling narcotics.
Saadiya’s arrest caused an uproar in Dareen where people demanded the culprits be arrested. A protest march was launched and a hashtag went viral, which caught the eye of Egyptian authorities and the Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Soon the gang of drug dealers was nabbed and the Saudi authorities were alerted about the development.
Investigators found that Abdel Salam was one of ten women who fell victim to the drug dealers' scam. Another one had travelled, whilst eight others were still awaiting departure.
Saudi Arabian authorities released Saadiya on Monday and she was allowed to perform Umrah rituals in Mecca before leaving for Egypt.