Passenger caught with 1.7kg marijuana in Dubai airport says he thought he was carrying bananas

Dubai: A man, who was caught with 1.7kg of marijuana at the Dubai International Airport, said he thought he was carrying bananas.

The passenger from Ghana said that a friend from his home country gave him a bag to deliver it to an unknown person in Dubai to help him find a job.

“He told me that it contains banana and that I will hand it over to another person,” said the defendant in official records.

Last November, a Dubai Customs inspector stopped the defendant at the arrivals area to check his two bags.

The inspector found eight plastic bags inside one bag include 1.7kg of marijuana.

The defendant denied knowing anything about the drugs inside his luggage and said he thought he was carrying bananas.

Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant to 10 years in jail and a fine amounting to Dh50,000.

The court ordered that the defendant be deported after he had served his jail term.