Dubai: Dubai Customs has intercepted and arrested a South American passenger, who tried to smuggle 3.4 kilogramme of cocaine, at the Terminal 3 of the Dubai International Airport.
“Customs inspectors intercepted a bid to smuggle 3.4kg of cocaine worth about Dh5 million that was hidden in the clothes of a passenger coming from a South American country,” Ali Al Mugahwi, Director of Airport Operations Department at Dubai Customs, said.
The passenger raised suspicions when he oddly approached the customs checkpoint. An officer noticed that the passenger was trying to mingle with other passengers and take advantage of the queue at the checkpoint and go unnoticed. When it was his turn at the checkpoint, the passenger denied that he had anything to declare. It was not difficult for the inspector to notice that he was lying and could probably be carrying a prohibited substance. The inspector then referred the passenger’s bags for manual inspection, but nothing suspicious was found.
The inspector, however, noticed that some of the shirts inside his bag weighed more than normal clothes. Guessing that the clothes could have been stuffed with narcotics, he sought the help of the Al Kashif vehicle.
Al Kashif was recently invented by Dubai Customs to examine suspicious materials found in the passengers’ baggage, as well as any medications in their possession.
The device detected that the shirts contained pure cocaine weighing 3.4 kilogramme. Al Mugahwi said the investigators questioned the passenger about the cocaine found in his possession and he confessed to his crime. The passenger said the narcotics were handed to him in a South American airport. The plan was to deliver the cocaine to someone in the UAE, in exchange of money.
Al Mugahwi said the passenger was handed over to the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police for further action along with the seizure report and seized narcotics.
