Two caught at airport with 5,200 steroid pills

Two Libyan men are being held by the police for questioning in connection with what the police said was the illegal importation of 5,200 steroid pills on Tuesday.

The men were stopped and checked as they were passing through the Green Channel of the airport after they arrived on a direct flight from Tripoli at 8 p.m. A spokesman for Customs said a search of their luggage turned up a number of small empty containers which were suspected to have been used to keep pills. However, a more intensive search of the luggage proved negative.

The two passengers were then requested to go to the search room where they were subjected to a thorough body search. It was at this stage that the Customs officers found 5,200 pills in the Libyans' clothes. The pills were immediately confiscated.

The Medicine Authority was called in to help identify the pills, which turned out to be steroids. The spokesman said the importation of steroids was restricted and they needed a licence from the authority to be brought in.