Saudi Arabia confiscates Heineken beer at the border: Is it so wrong to want a drink in the modern Middle East?

The company’s latest slogan is 'open your world' - to which the thirsty beer-lovers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates might reasonably respond: if only!

48,000 cans of Heineken were reportedly confiscated (Getty)

Officials in Saudi Arabia have revealed that a man had been caught at the border with the United Arab Emirates carrying 48,000 cans of Heineken. Government information from this part of the world is not always reliable, but according to reports he was sober.

A video released by the Saudi authorities revealed the astonishing lengths the gentleman had to go to in order to conceal his true intentions: the beer cans were disguised as Pepsi. Known alcohol consumption per capita in Saudi Arabia is 0.2 litres per adult – that is, very low. That’s because daring to drink alcohol in these dry countries can land you with severe sentences at the discretion of whichever theocrat happens to be ruling. Prison sentences and floggings are routine.

So there is a serious side to this comic caper. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE – which have become rich principally through their good fortune in sitting atop oil and gas – have appalling records on human rights, and the treatment of workers, women and minorities. They have a fundamentalist approach toward many human experiences, from public education to drinking alcohol. Can such intolerance be long for this world? Just as drug laws are being relaxed across the globe in response to the failure of prohibition, so it must be hoped that one day the rulers of these places will think it a legally tolerable course of human behaviour to drink a cool, refreshing lager in the heat of the desert. To hope that such an outcome materialises is hardly Islamophobic, even if some Muslims choose not to drink; indeed, it would be an insult to the people of this region to suggest that legalising alcohol would pose a huge threat to their social order. On the contrary, it would be a triumph for liberty and, for those who don’t abuse it, huge fun.

It would also, as the enterprising chap caught clearly realised, represent quite a business opportunity. With delicious irony, Heineken’s most celebrated slogan was of course “Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach”. Even better, the company’s latest slogan is “Open your world”. To which the thirsty beer-lovers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates might reasonably respond: if only!