Yassin Yahya: I wasn't detained for smuggling drugs!
27 May - Yassin Yahya has finally opened up about his arrest in Jeddah, having been detained in Saudi Arabia for the past six months.
The comedian, who shared his experience with good friend Saiful Apek on the latter's podcast, said that the news that he was detained for illegal drug possession is wrong and that it was due to him bringing an item that bore an image of an illegal substance.
Admitting that his lack of knowledge about the country being one of the reasons for what happened to him, Yassin said that it all started with him joining a fully sponsored umrah travel trip. However, due to his busy schedule, he didn't get the chance to attend umrah courses prior to departure.
"Before I left, I made a joke with mum saying that I might 'extend' my stay. My mum was surprised by it. But it unwittingly came true," he said.
Yassin, who boarded an eight-hour flight to Jeddah, said that he thought about how he can smoke and decided to buy cigarette rolling paper, a grinder as well as a pack of cigarettes. That's what the custom officers in Jeddah saw when they scanned his bag.
"They saw the image on the grinder and went to further inspect my bag. I told them it was cigarettes and that they can do urine test on me. At the same time, I asked my mutawif to go on without me because they were leaving for Madinah," he said.
Yassin said that he thought the custom officers would take him back to his umrah group after the interrogation, but instead they cuffed him and took him to a police station in Jeddah.
"I wondered what was wrong because if it was because of the image on the grinder, I would have been detained in Malaysia... But I wasn't given a chance to explain or call anybody, and we weren't able to communicate properly [due to language barrier]. On my way, I just prayed to Allah and leave everything to Him," he said.
Yassin said that he was detained for six months at the deportation centre before finally coming home without bringing any of his belongings back.
(Photo Source: Yassin IG, Harian Metro)
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