Fact Check

Were beer cans disguised as soft drinks, or soda smuggled into Qatar at the World cup? This claim is False! – Project FactCheck Nigeria

A Facebook user alleged that football fans trooping to Qatar for the world cup are smuggling beer into the country by disguising Heineken as Pepsi.

He said that fans were caught via this means. 

A blog site that featured the story insinuates that the disguised cans of beer can easily be smuggled into the stadium by the visiting tourist.

This claim is False, Here is what we know –

The team started by conducting a forensics analysis to verify if this was real and not doctored. Results from Forensically, an online tool that offers image verification, reveal the acclaimed image is actual and not doctored in any way.

After that, a Google reverse image search to uncover the source of the image. Results show an image of the Heineken canned beer disguised as Pepsi that has been circulating since 2015.

In 2015, The Telegraph published a news story headlined:

“Smugglers attempt to enter Saudi Arabia with 48,000 beer cans disguised as Pepsi.”

The same story was published in Morocco World News with the caption:

“Saudi Arabia Seizes 48,000 Cans of Heineken Beer Disguised as Pepsi”

Both levels featured the acclaimed picture used to paint a scenario in Qatar.

In 2015, Police in Saudi Arabia confiscated over 48,000 Heineken beer smuggled into the country disguised as Pepsi-Cola cans.

 

The scenario unfolded at the Al Batha border between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where officials stopped a truck carrying the contraband, based on reports by several Saudi news reports.

“The smuggler tried to enter the goods innovatively, as stickers indicating that they were soft drinks “Pepsi” was placed on the “beer” cans, but that attempt failed after it was detected and thwarted by Saudi customs.” The report read.

Conclusion:

The alleged image with the narrative of smuggled beer into Qatar is false. The actual scenario happened seven years ago in Saudi Arabia, where officials intercepted attempts to smuggle beer disguised as Pepsi into the country.

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