Dubai: Three air passengers have been accused of smuggling and possessing around 5kg of cocaine that they hid in different bags when they were travelling to Nigeria via Dubai in transit.
Law enforcement officers were said to have caught the trio, a 45-year-old Brazilian, M.J., and two Nigerians, 31-year-old R.O. and 41-year-old O.K., transporting the cocaine at Dubai International Airport’s transit section in November.
Drugs prosecutors accused M.J., R.O. and O.K. of transporting the cocaine via Dubai in transit and asked the Dubai Court of First Instance to implement the maximum punishment applicable [10 to 15 years in jail and a fine between Dh50,000 and Dh200,000] against them.
R.O. was solely charged with transporting 20.31gm of cocaine via transit.
O.K. was charged with transporting 20.25gm of cocaine via transit as well.
The Brazilian defendant failed to enter a plea before presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat on Monday due to translation problems.
Meanwhile the Nigerian suspect denied the accusation of possessing and transporting the 5kg cocaine via transit.
R.O. argued in court that he possessed one capsule and that it was for his personal use.
O.K. pleaded innocent and contended that he was on his way to Nigeria and that he had nothing to do with this case. However he admitted that he possessed 20.25gm for his personal use.
An anti-narcotics police captain testified to prosecutors that M.J. was detained first at the airport’s transit section carrying cocaine.
“Upon confronting him with the findings, he claimed that he was flying from Brazil when he met two Nigerians [the suspects] on the aircraft. He alleged that one of them handed him a sack [in which part of the cocaine capsules were discovered] and told him that he would take it from him after the search area. An officer accompanied M.J. to the search area where he guided us to the other suspects. When questioned at the airport’s police office, the Nigerians admitted that they handed the sack of drugs to the Brazilian before landing … they claimed that they were transporting the cocaine to Nigeria,” claimed the captain.
The trial continues.
