Warning issued to travellers over common over-the-counter painkiller - it could get you ARRESTED
According to travel experts, packing medications containing codeine, such as Nurofen Plus, without prior approval, could get you detained at customs in countries like United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Meanwhile, Japan and Thailand consider codeine and tramadol controlled substances, requiring you to seek prior permission from embassy officials to bring them.
In a new alert, travel experts frrom the advice service Which warned of 'serious consequences' of travelling with drugs that are banned or restricted in the country you're visiting.
'You could be questioned or have your medication destroyed, and some holidaymakers have even ended up in jail,' the report said.
Other medications that require permissions or are banned in some nations include sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication (including diazepam), ADHD medication and cannabis oil, Which warned.
Many countries have strict regulations on these medications, but bringing a prescription, doctor's letter and keeping them in original pharmacy packaging could reduce the chance of being detained, according to experts.
The Government advises the rules will depend on the type of drug, length of your trip and the amount that you take with you.
In many cases, particularly for those bringing syringes or EpiPens, the country will require a letter of proof from a doctor, a personal license, or other evidence.
Greece, Japan, Mexico and the UEA have particularly strong rules on medications, the travel experts warned.
If you're travelling to Greece, you're allowed up to five different prescribed medications for personal use, but no more than two boxes of each.
Those with more may be required to ask for permission from the Greek National Organisation for Medicines upon arrival.
The UK Government warned: 'Pharmacies across Greece stock a good supply of medicines, but there are strict rules around dispensing certain medicines, including antibiotics'.
Meanwhile, if you're bringing more than a month's personal supply of non-narcotic medicine to Japan, you need to get a certificate before you travel.
Those bringing drugs Japan classifies as narcotics, of any amount, need to get permission from the relevant Narcotics Control Department.
A narcotic is a drug that affects mood or behaviour and is consumed for non-medical purposes, often illegally.
Drugs they consider narcotics include codeine, diazepam and pseudoephedrine, an ingredient that's found in some nasal decongestant sprays like Sudafed.
If you're travelling to Mexico you can bring any medication for personal use, but there is a fair bit of paperwork involved.
This includes a letter from your GP stating total amount you need during your stay, the daily dose, and a prescription that must be translated into Spanish.
The UAE is thought to have the strictest regulations regarding medication.
It is important to check their Ministry of Health website and seek permission to bring in any medication on its list of controlled drugs.
This includes the stop-smokin mint lozenges NiQuitin. Oils containing CBD, codeine, and even poppy seeds are on the list.
It comes years after a British woman was jailed in Egypt for three years after being found guilty of taking prescription drugs into the country in 2017.
Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull was arrested after she was found to be carrying 290 Tramadol tablets in her suitcase, a painkiller legal in the UK but banned in Egypt.
Her family, who have described her as 'naïve', said she was taking them for her Egyptian partner Omar Caboo, who suffers from severe back pain.
But judge at a preliminary court sentenced her to three years' imprisonment and ordered her to pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (£4,205).
Ms Plummer's family went on TV and revealed she was struggling to cope in jail—describing her as looking 'unrecognisable'.
Eventually, the young woman, who at one point faced the death penalty, was freed from the Egyptian jail in 2019, after serving 13 months of her sentence.
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