Prohibited Poppy grains found in wheat shipment from Romania

CAIRO - 21 August 2017: The Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority at Safaga port prevented the unloading of a 63 thousand ton shipment of wheat coming from Romania on Tuesday, August 15 as poppy grains, a type of narcotics, were found in the consignment.

The ‘Wadi Tiba’ ship had arrived on Tuesday in Safaga port where the authorities stopped its unloading until inspections was complete. A sample of these seeds were sent to the laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture that asserted that they were indeed poppy seeds.

Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, began to export wheat from different countries including Romania, Russia and Argentina to meet the needs of citizens, especially that the Minister of Supply Mohammed Ali Meselhy has declared in January 2017 that wheat reserves are sufficient until the beginning of April 2017.

Egypt has already rejected a 63,000 ton shipment of wheat at its Romanian port in September 2017 after checking for ergot, which is a common grain fungus that causes hallucinations when consumed in large amounts.