Smugglers Tried to Bring 48,000 Cans of Heineken Disguised as Pepsi Into Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Customs officials in Saudi Arabia say they've cracked a case - and then some - of smugglers trying to bring illicit cans of beer through the kingdom by disguising them as Pepsi.

In a statement, customs officials say they intercepted 48,000 cans of beer moving through the al-Batha border crossing with the United Arab Emirates.

In video posted Wednesday on Twitter, the customs officials show an officer using a box cutter to open a wrapped 24-pack of the fake Pepsi only to find the green-and-white Heineken cans beneath it.

ملصقات "مشروب بيبسي" على 48 ألف علبة بيرة بالكحول كشف محاولة تهريبها جمرك البطحاء pic.twitter.com/TETuvcWRpD

— الجمارك السعودية (@KsaCustoms) November 11, 2015

ملصقات "مشروب بيبسي" على 48 ألف علبة بيرة بالكحول كشف محاولة تهريبها جمرك البطحاء https://t.co/BwpTaeQs1n pic.twitter.com/gpf9p7ZK1Z

— الجمارك السعودية (@KsaCustoms) November 11, 2015

Drinking or possessing alcohol is a criminal offense in the ultra-conservative Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia.