Dubai: A visitor was sentenced to 10 years in jail, to be followed by deportation, for smuggling 21kg of cocaine through Dubai International Airport, a Dubai court heard on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old visitor from Netherlands was caught with cocaine in his baggage after arriving to T3 at Dubai Airport in March 2019.
According to official records, a policeman suspected the baggage as the x-ray scan revealed black pieces inside.
“I was scanning the bags through the x-ray machine when I suspected something amiss inside the bag of the defendant. He arrived on transit and I summoned him to open the bag in coordination with the airline. First he denied the bag belonged to him but the tag number he carried proved the baggage was his,” said the policeman in records.
Inspectors found 10 big pieces of plastic wrapped with tin between the clothes. A powder was found inside the pieces, following which officers from Anti-Narcotic Department in Dubai Police were called. They confirmed it was cocaine.
A urine test revealed that the defendant consumed the illegal substance, but Dubai Public Prosecution didn’t charge him with consuming drugs as the incident was out of UAE’s jurisdiction.
However, he was charged with illegally transporting drugs.
The Dubai Court of First Instance has fined him Dh50,000.
The verdict will be subject to appeal within 15 days.
