Dubai: A transit passenger, who hid 3.5 kilograms of cocaine in her underwear, said in court on Tuesday that she smuggled the drugs because she faced death threats from Brazilian drug cartels.
“I was a victim of pressure and force. They threatened to kill me,” claimed the 24-year-old South African woman, N.F., before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
Drugs prosecutors charged the defendant with transporting 3.5kg of cocaine while in transit via the Dubai International Airport on January 24. An Emirati policewoman found N.F.’s movements suspicious because she walked with difficulty at the arrival terminal.
“What do you mean by death threats? Where did that happen?” presiding judge Mohammad Jamal asked the suspect in courtroom three.
The woman claimed that the drug mafia in Brazil had threatened to kill her if she refused to smuggle the cocaine to South Africa.
Prosecutors asked the court to implement the toughest punishment — 15 years in jail and a fine of Dh200,000 — against N.F.
The Emirati policewoman testified that she had spotted the defendant walking heavily and looked frightened at the arrival lounge in Terminal 3.
“The way she walked gave me the impression that she hid something between her legs. Upon searching her, I spotted a big pouch attached to her underwear. It contained a white suspicious substance which turned out to be cocaine. She claimed that she was carrying the drugs to someone called Ubi in South Africa,” the policewoman told prosecutors.
A judgment will be delivered on May 21.
