This video shows Saudi officials confiscating 48,000 cans of beer disguised as Pepsi
It's not easy to get alcohol in Saudi Arabia. Because of the prohibition that exists in the country, anyone who wants to get their hands on liquor either has to brew at home or find a way to smuggle it in. These can still not be had openly, forcing residents to hide the fact that they are drinking contraband and even come up with codenames. One of those happens to be bebsi, a not to the fact that Pepsi bottles were often used for the local alcohol coupled with the Arab tendency to turn 'p' sounds into b's.
Turns out, bebsi is not just an inside joke. On November 11, the official twitter account of Saudi Customs wrote that it had confiscated 48,000 Pepsi cans from a truck because they had something a little more spirited than soda pop inside them. The video posted by Saudi customs shows how the cans were actually Heineken beer disguised as Pepsi.
Saudis have long found ways to get around the country's alcohol prohibition – the island nation of Bahrain, which can be reached by bridge from the Saudi mainlaind – is famous as a weekend getaway for locals who want to binge-drink.
But locals are also regularly attempting to find new ways to bring alcohol into the country, with the latest innovative effort having been cracked by the authorities. “A truck carrying what first seemed to be normal cans of the soft drink Pepsi was stopped and after the standard process of searching the products, it became clear that the alcoholic beers were covered with Pepsi’s sticker logos,” an official told Al Arabiya news.