Male Algerian drug smugglers don hijabs and make-up but are arrested

Three Algerian drug smugglers don hijabs and smear themselves with make-up in botched attempt to evade police

• The men were caught by the country’s Anti-Narcotics squad, officials said
• ‘Before’ and ‘After’ pictures showed the three men’s disguises  both on and off
• They partially covered their faces in makeup and wore masks and headdresses  
• But once those had been removed, it was clear it was three men in disguise 

Three Algerian drug smugglers donned hijabs and smeared themselves in make-up in a botched attempt to evade police, according to officials. 

The photos were erroneously claimed by some media outlets to be Nigerian men attempting to make it into Dubai – but the images are actually from a drugs bust in Algeria early this month.

The men were caught by the country’s Anti-Narcotics and Psychiatric Effects Squad, according to a post on Facebook by Algeria’s national police earlier this month.

In ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures taken of the bust, the crestfallen looking men could be seen handcuffed together as they lined up to be photographed.

Three drug alleged smuggling men were arrested in Algeria wearing traditional Arab women’s dress and makeup in an attempt to bypass police. Pictured: The three men are shown in their costumes in a police line-up

The men were caught by the country’s Anti-Narcotics and Psychiatric Effects Squad, according to a post on Facebook by the unit earlier this month. Pictured: The men are pictured with their headdresses and masks removed in a police line up

In the ‘before’ pictures, the three men are shown in long dresses, head scarfs and large cloth masks. The clothing means their faces are mostly covered. 

But once the clothing covering their heads and faces had been pulled down, the deception is obvious. Makeup covers only a portion of their faces – their upper lips, noses, eyes, cheeks and foreheads.

But the area of their faces that was covered by their disguising garments is clear of makeup, which is distinctively lighter than their true skin tone.  

Either side of them, other men were also lined up with handcuffs behind their backs, facing a wall. Between them and the camera, evidence was laid out on a table.

According to local news website TSA, the large police operation was also targeting people smuggling.

The criminal network consisted on 14 people, including 4 Algerians and 10 others from abroad – aged between 20 and 24.

Police seized 1.5 kg of hard drugs including 780 grams of heroin, 670 grams of cocaine and 80 grams of Cannabis, the news website said.

It added that investigators found that the network was using deception tactics – such as dressing its members up in women’s clothing – to deceive police. 

The pictures were shared widely on social media, with users on TikTok claiming they were asylum seekers arrested in Dubai.

In the ‘before’ pictures, the three men are shown in long dresses, head scarfs and large cloth masks. The clothing means their faces are mostly covered

Either side of the three disguised men, other men were also lined up with handcuffs behind their backs, facing a wall. Between them and the camera, evidence was laid out on a table

However, that was debunked by fact checking website Fact Crescendo when the original post by the Algerian authorities from February 3 was unearthed. 

The smugglers were arrested through an investigation by the ‘Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Division of the Central District of the Judicial Police of the State of Algiers, in coordination with regional prosecutors, the Facebook post from the country’s national police force said.

Officers ‘managed overthrow an organized criminal network specialized in illicit trafficking in hard drugs of heroin and cocaine,’ it added.

According to TSA, drug smuggling is a growing issue in Algeria, with the country seeing a 1584.34 percent increase in cocaine seizures between 2020 and 2021. 

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