Cocaine smuggler refuses to let Dubai Customs officers open his bag, demands compensation

Dubai: A traveller was caught with more than 2kg of cocaine at Dubai International Airport recently.

According to the Dubai Court of First Instance, the 37-year-old defendant told Dubai Customs inspectors, who suspected his luggage, that they would have to pay for the damages if they break open his bag. A Dubai Customs official agreed to that and broke open the bag to find the drugs hidden inside.

“We noticed an unusual thickness in his bag, but he refused to open the bag. We told him that we would need to break open the bottom of the bag as we suspected that some illegal substance was probably stashed there. But he refused to let us do that and told us that we would have to pay the bag’s price as compensation if we break it open,” the Emirati inspector said on record.

Once the bag was opened, the official found four black wraps inside the bag, containing cocaine.

“He claimed that a friend had given him the bag to deliver it to another person in Dubai,” the inspector added.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the defendant with possessing and smuggling 2.1kg of cocaine.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 14.