Dubai: A gang of seven men went on trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance after they were accused of importing 72kg of methamphetamine hidden inside car spare parts.
The Pakistani men got the spare parts consignment from Afghanistan through Iran to Jebel Ali Port in July 2019.
According to records, Dubai Customs found that the company that had imported the spare parts usually dealt with food supplies.
A 40-year-old Emirati inspector at Dubai Customs testified that they guarded the container until the first defendant arrived to pay the fees on the container and take it to a warehouse outside the port.
“We told him that the container would remain in the port for 50 days and he needs to pay the fines. He came back and made the payment and we asked him to come in August to open the container for inspection,” the Emirati inspector said in records.
The defendant with other two others came to collect the container as one of them claimed that the spare parts belonged to him.
“We found a huge amount of drugs hidden inside the spare parts. We arrested the three defendants and two others who were waiting outside the port. We alerted Dubai Police too,” the inspector added.
The defendants claimed that the shipment belonged to a person outside the UAE who asked them to collect the container and hand it over to other two defendants.
Dubai Police set a trap for the other defendants and arrested them.
The seven defendants were charged with importing 72kg of drugs to peddle it inside the country.
