15

I've been traveling full time for over a year. In a couple of weeks, I'll be passing near Dubai, so I decided it would be nice to spend a week there, since I've always wanted to see it. I've got a few things in my luggage that I'm concerned might raise red flags.

  • Over the counter medicines (Aleve, Benadryl, Lortadine, Simethicone, Melatonin)
  • About 20 condoms (I'm single)
  • A socialist political magazine I picked up in South America
  • A Kindle with various books that may be considered offensive to different people
  • About 50 little plastic pill ziplocks
  • Hemp clothing with small pot leaf symbols on the tags

Should I leave all of those things behind? Are any of them safe to travel with to Dubai?

I've also heard lots of horror stories about people being sent to jail for 4 years over innocent little things like residue from over the counter drugs, or microscopic pieces of weed that they didn't even know about stuck to their shoes from a party. Do I need to be concerned about that too?

200_success
  • 2,917
  • 2
  • 23
  • 29
Jo Sprague
  • 591
  • 4
  • 12
  • 3
    Regarding the condoms I guess you are fine: Carrying Condoms while traveling to Dubai answers that. For the rest idk, but could you specify "plastic pill ziplocks"? I'm at a loss here, you mean the ziplocks or the content? If the latter care to specify in more detail? – mts Sep 23 '16 at 13:21
  • 1
    A bunch of these https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31VM1SloOkL.jpg mostly empty except a few with the over the counter medicines I mentioned above. – Jo Sprague Sep 23 '16 at 15:05
  • I travel with exactly the same, the little plastic pill ziplocks, but only with OTC meds in them. Empty, and with that quantity, might raise more than an eyebrow. In my pharmacy, they cost $1 for 100 bags; it might be better to ditch them. – Giorgio Sep 23 '16 at 15:25
  • I've also got hemp clothing that has small pot leaf symbols on the tags. Is that a problem? – Jo Sprague Sep 24 '16 at 10:42
  • 2
    I read a story, possibly on Quora, of a man who got locked up when they found a single marijuana seed stuck in the tread in his shoe, or something very similar. So it could be a problem. I'll try to find a link so you can get a firsthand version of the story. – hippietrail Sep 24 '16 at 11:49
  • 2
    OK here's various links: [1], [2], [3] – hippietrail Sep 24 '16 at 11:49
  • @hippietrail that's an answer right there, no? – mts Sep 24 '16 at 15:51
  • 2
    Geez, those articles make me think I shouldn't visit Dubai at all, unless I have access to one of those fancy machines to check myself for residues before I get there. – Jo Sprague Sep 24 '16 at 17:38
  • @hippietrail: they guy in this story was from a poor African country, and came there for employment. People matching his profile attract significantly higher scrutiny at Customs there (because of higher perceived risk of carrying extra to "supplement" the income). This makes difference, as I've been through probably a dozen custom searches around the world, but none was such intensive that they'd find a "single marijuana seed" even if I carried one. Nobody ever bothered look at my medicine, for example. – George Y. Sep 24 '16 at 19:32
  • @GeorgeY. Please read all three links and/or do Google searches to find similar ones. They are not all about the same guy. – hippietrail Sep 25 '16 at 08:10
  • 1
    @hippietrail from the article about the second guy (your links 1 and 2 point to the same article): "Rastafarian Mr Brown had been returning from a short trip to Ethiopia, where one of his children lives and where he owns property"; those two were the only questionable cases I've found as well for the last ten years. I'd say here in USA we imprison much more innocent people. – George Y. Sep 25 '16 at 21:54
  • Some of the articles did spend some space talking about the various other people encountered in the jail for trace amounts or even prescription medicine, and some talked about numbers of foreigners. My impression was that it happens a lot but doesn't make an impression on the media a lot. But yeah the US case can be a bit scary too and the prison experience itself might well be worse there than in the UAE. Though the one guy did say he was in with murderers and rapists. – hippietrail Sep 26 '16 at 02:27

2 Answers2

2

Dubai is fairly liberal, I've been there a number of times and never had any issues with Customs. Always had condoms, some medicine, and a tablet with books/photos/whatever. Your luggage is scanned by Customs, but that's all.

Officially, Dubai customs has a web site, but the list of prohibited items (at bottom) seems to be mostly typical.

About 20 condoms (I'm single) A socialist political magazine I picked up in South America A Kindle with various books that may be considered offensive to different people About 50 little plastic pill ziplocks

This should be fine unless your books or magazine "contradict Islamic teaching", whatever this means.

Over the counter medicines (Aleve, Benadryl, Lortadine, Simethicone, Melatonin)

Those may be a problem. Especially OTC medicine, it is hard to say if any of those contains a substance prohibited to import in UAE.

Hemp clothing with small pot leaf symbols on the tags

No idea at all; certainly not in the banned list, but one never knows.

George Y.
  • 21,966
  • 1
  • 42
  • 86
2

There is nothing in your list that would get you denied entry.

The OTC medicines should be in their labeled packaging/boxes (and not loose pills). All the medicines you mention are available OTC in Dubai as well, so you do not need a prescription with you.

Burhan Khalid
  • 39,678
  • 4
  • 82
  • 157
  • 2
    I'm not worried about getting denied entry, I'm worried about getting thrown in prison for four years over an unintentional infraction. – Jo Sprague Sep 26 '16 at 15:14