The real Arabian nights: Extraordinary picture shows drunk, burka-clad woman passed out in a Saudi street as ex-pats lift lid on secret debauchery
Daily MailBy Flora Drury For Mailonline
Published: 11:05 EST, 18 October 2015
It is not a picture one expects to see coming out of Saudi Arabia: a burka-clad woman, lying down drunk in the streets of the capital.
But ex-pats have revealed how this is not a surprising sight, as young Saudis do drink and take drugs at debauched gatherings - despite their countries strict laws.
Westerners - who themselves admit to wild parties on compounds in the desert state - have lifted the lid on the excesses of their Saudi neighbours, including a growing taste for a drug used by ISIS fighters before they go into battle.
Their claims came as the picture of the 'drunk' woman emerged, apparently collapsed after a gathering held in the capital Riyadh - one of many held in the strictly Muslim country, right beneath the nose of the strict authorities.
It throws into question exactly why British grandfather Karl Andree has been sentenced to 350 lashes for having a few bottles of homemade wine in his car when the authorities are known to turn a blind eye to the excesses of its residents - for a price.
In theory, alcohol is banned. At worst, a person caught with alcohol can be put to death. Most of the time, however, they are sentenced to lashes and time behind bar, like Mr Andree.
However, that doesn't stop people from brewing, buying and consuming alcohol in vast consequences - especially within the walled compounds where westerners live.
'The parties are pretty crazy even by western standards,' one ex-pat told the Sunday Mirror.
Tony, another ex-pat, told the BBC that while the compounds are like 'holiday camps' - but the Saudis were just as likely to be found with a drink in their hand.
'There is quite a drinking culture with the Saudis themselves,' he said.
'Most of the guys that I socialise with have stocks of Jack Daniels and other booze, as well as buying stuff that some of the expats brew.'
They also are known to make their own 99 per cent proof moonshine, made from potatoes, the Mirror's source revealed.
The partying culture is nothing new. Five years ago, Wikileaks revealed how a Saudi prince threw a party for 150 20 and 30-somethings, where booze was flowing freely and prostitutes mingled with the super-rich.
Attendees were protected from the authorities thanks to their host's royal status, according to an American diplomat, the Guardian reported.
The dispatch also revealed a bottle of Smirnoff vodka could fetch as much as 1,500 riyals (£250), while the local version will cost just 100 riyals (£16).
But it doesn't stop at drink: the Mirror's source also revealed how rich young Saudis have got a taste for the Syrian-made drug Captagon - a drug used by ISIS fighters.
It has previously been reported that the drug is used to keep the fighters on both sides of the bloody conflict alert, allowing them to fight for longer.
However, the source claimed: 'Rich young Saudi men love it and it has led to a deadly craze known as Drifting where they speed expensive sports cars up to 100mph and then slam on the hand brake for fun.'
We could have told them Prohibition doesn't work.
