Transit passenger jailed for drug smuggling

Dubai: A Columbian transit passenger has been jailed for ten years after a court convicted him of smuggling and transporting four kilogrammes of cocaine from Brazil to China via Dubai.

The Dubai Court of First Instance recently jailed the Columbian, a 40-year-old merchant, to ten years and fined him Dh50,000.

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout said the accused, V.A., will be deported after the completion of his punishment.

Prosecutors charged the accused of smuggling and possessing four kilogrammes of cocaine and attempting to transport them via the transit terminal at Dubai International Airport.

Law enforcement officers foiled the attempt of the accused to smuggle the drugs from Brazilian city of Sao Paolo to Quanzhou in China.

According to prosecution records, the defendant admitted that a Brazilian named Dario met him in Sao Paolo and asked him to transport the cocaine to Quanzhou via Dubai.

The accused was quoted admitting that Dario paid him $8,000 (Dh29,360) for the travel expenses and promised to pay him a similar amount after delivering the drugs.

An Emirati policeman at Dubai airport testified that he exposed the defendant's attempt to smuggle the drugs using metal detector.

"The defendant turned pale when I asked him to return and pass through the machine a second time… he pretended that he didn't hear me and that's when I asked to search him. Thereafter, I walked him to the search room and discovered that he hid something on his waist.

"At first he refused to be searched before we found that he hid 113 pieces of cloth containing what we suspected to be drugs and professionally-knitted to the inside of his trouser," said the policeman.

Records said the policeman alerted Dubai Police's Anti-Narcotics Department. According to preliminary investigations, the accused carried cocaine which he claimed he collected from Dario. He alleged that he was supposed to transport the drugs to China.

The primary judgment is still subject to appeal.