Dubai: A farmer stunned a court on Thursday when he alleged that the poppy seeds, which customs inspectors seized in his possession at the airport, are used to make soup and sauce.
Customs inspectors at Dubai International Airport seized the poppy seeds placed in the 33-year-old Indian farmer’s, B.S., luggage once he arrived to Dubai in April.
Drugs prosecutors charged the defendant with smuggling and possessing 102.5g of poppy seeds for his personal consumption.
When the suspect showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance, he admitted that he brought in the substances with him but denied his acknowledgement that its drugs.
“I brought those seeds with me from India, but I did not know that it was banned. Where I come from, we use this for cooking,” argued B.S. when he defended himself in courtroom.
“Do you mean that you eat it?” presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat asked the defendant. “Yes sir … we use this like a spice in the sauce and we use it to cook the soup as well. I possessed it for cooking purposes,” replied the farmer.
According to the charge-sheet, prosecutors said the suspect smuggled and possessed a plastic nylon sack that contained 102.5g of poppy seeds that could be planted. The suspect possessed the seeds for consumption purposes.
A female customs inspector at the airport stopped the defendant as soon as he reached her counter at the arrival terminal, she testified to prosecutors.
“Once he arrived at terminal 2, I suspected that he could have been carrying with him drugs pills. I took him aside and searched his luggage that contained the poppy seeds. When I confronted him with the findings, he immediately confessed that he brought them with him from abroad. The poppy seeds were seized and the suspect was referred to Dubai Police’s anti-narcotics department,” claimed the inspector.
A ruling will be heard on July 21.
