Dubai: Two men have been accused of offering Dh40,000 in bribe to two customs inspectors to allow them to bring into the market a consignment of musical instruments.

Dubai Customs were said to have seized the musical instruments at the Jebel Ali Port when the Indian men, a businessman and a manager, offered the inspectors Dh40,000 to allow them to drive the consignment out of the port and into Dubai in May.

The Indian duo offered the money to the Emirati inspectors, according to records, to allow them to drive the two pickup trucks that carried the instruments without being searched.

Customs officials cooperated with Dubai Police and the two men were arrested in a sting operation outside the Port premises.

Prosecutors accused the businessman and the manager of offering a bribe to government officials.

The suspects pleaded innocent when they showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the Indian suspects offered a bribe to the inspectors to allow them to drive the musical instruments out of the customs department without being searched or registered. The suspects wanted the customs papers to be stamped and make it look like a legitimate consignment though it had not been searched.

A customs inspector claimed to prosecutors that the incident happened when he and his partner spotted two pickups parked suspiciously near one of the gates inside Jebel Ali Port.

“When we questioned the drivers why they had parked at that spot, they told us that they were waiting for his company’s customs broker to bring the proper documents. They claimed to us that they did not have any papers for the consignment. We asked the drivers to call the broker. When he came, he handed us papers that pertained to the consignment. We discovered that it was an illegal consignment and that the musical instruments were not permitted to be taken out of the port. We asked the drivers to move the pickups to another gate and we informed the broker [who turned out to be the manager] that he was prohibited from taking the consignment out of the port because the information mentioned on the customs papers did not match the content of the consignment. Then he offered my colleague Dh40,000 to allow him to take the instruments out of the port. We informed our supervisor, who reported it to the police. We cooperated with the police who apprehended the suspects in a sting operation,” he testified to prosecutors.

The trial continues.