Dubai: A visitor lost his appeal on Wednesday and will be jailed for 10 years for smuggling 80 capsules of heroin into Dubai inside his intestines for promotional purposes.
A Customs inspector caught the 25-year-old Afghan visitor, M.A., after a special detecting device showed he was carrying the capsules inside his body at Dubai International Airport in October.
The Dubai Appeal Court rejected M.A.’s appeal and confirmed his 10-year imprisonment for smuggling and possessing 960gm of heroin with intent to promote the drug in the UAE.
The accused had admitted that he smuggled the drug in his intestines but denied the intent to promote it in Dubai.
“I smuggled it here for my personal use,” he contended before the court.
Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm also upheld a Dh50,000 fine against the defendant.
The accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment.
The Customs inspector said he became suspicious when M.A. reached the arrival terminal.
“He arrived from his country some time in the afternoon. I took him to a search room where I had him go through the special scanner. The results showed some strange objects inside his intestines. No banned substances were found with him or in his luggage. Then I accompanied him to the washroom where he extracted 33 capsules. When asked about the findings, he claimed he did know about the contents. He alleged that his countryman gave it to him and asked him to deliver it to someone in Dubai,” the inspector told prosecutors.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
