Yemeni official arrested in Cairo airport for possession of $1m

CAIRO, Dec. 04 (YPA) – A Yemeni official in the coalition-backed government has been arrested by the Egyptian authorities in possession of $1 million at Cairo Airport, coming from the city of Aden, southern Yemen.

Sources familiar with the matter said Sam Al-Maflahi, who is the director of the office of Minister of Transport of Maeen Abdul Malik’s government and affiliated with the UAE-backed “Southern Transitional Council, was arrested by Cairo airport authorities, which seized the large sum of money.

The sources indicated that the ambassador of the government in Cairo, Mohammed Marem, made extensive contacts with the Egyptian authorities to release the amount, in exchange for a financial bribe, without specifying the sum.

The government officials funded by the coalition continue to loot money in foreign currency and smuggle it out of Yemen, which contributed to the deterioration of the national economy and the deterioration of the local currency.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Transport in the coalition-backed government denied that an official in the ministry had been arrested, considering it malicious propaganda that wants to undermine the successes of the minister, who is accused of selling the port of Qishn in Mahra province to the UAE.

In 2020, Ali Al-Nuaimi, who is the director of Maeen Abdul Malik’s office, was arrested by Cairo airport authorities after the large sum of money was discovered in a bag. He had refused to have his bag inspected on the grounds that he was carrying a diplomatic passport.

According to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a properly marked diplomatic bag has diplomatic immunity from search and seizure.

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