UAE | Crime
Two go on trial for heroin-stuffed nuts
Two visitors have denied smuggling heroin and claimed that a man promised them a job if they delivered almonds to someone in Sharjah.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:05 April 3, 2008
Dubai: Two visitors have denied smuggling heroin and claimed that a man promised them a job if they delivered almonds to someone in Sharjah.
The two Afghan visitors stood trial yesterday for illegally bringing in and possessing 47.6 kilograms of heroin, which was professionally packed inside almonds, as charged by the Public Prosecution.
The suspects, 63-year-old A.S. and 19-year-old K.A., denied their charges and pleaded not guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance. They claimed that they were unaware the almonds were stuffed with heroin.
Customs officers at Dubai International Airport foiled the duo's attempt to smuggle the heroin out of the airport into the emirate and referred them to Dubai police's Anti-Narcotics Department on September 19, 2007.
After inspection, police found about 47.6kg of heroin in the almonds which were hidden in 86 small bags.
A 28-year-old Emirati customs inspector said in his statement to the Public Prosecution: "The 19-year-old suspect arrived in Dubai onboard an Afghan airline. A colleague of mine suspected that he carried something unlawful and took him to a search room. The suspect carried two handbags in which the almonds were placed. Each handbag contained paper bags, inside each of there were ten smaller nylon bags. Each nylon bag contained a handful of almonds. We discovered that the heroin was packed in small transparent sacks and each stuffed inside an almond."
The 28-year-old witness said K.A. claimed that a man named Sajid handed him the handbags in Kandahar and asked him to deliver it to someone in Sharjah. "The suspect claimed that he didn't know that he carried heroin and thought it was almonds. He also said he was promised a job and $2,500 (Dh9,100) cash after delivery," he added.
A 26-year-old customs inspector arrested the 63-year-old suspect in a similar manner and he gave the same statement.
An anti-narcotics police corporal testified: "The suspect who was scheduled to receive the drugs in Sharjah cut loose and we are still searching for him. "
The court reconvenes soon.
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