Dubai: A Dubai Customs inspector who questioned a traveller walking unusually ended up discovering that he had drugs inside his stomach, a court heard on Tuesday.
The Afghan passenger was stopped upon arrival at Dubai Airport in February of last year after the inspector noticed the man’s odd behaviour.
“He was confused and walking in strange way, so I searched his bags and found nothing, but I noticed that he looked tired and just wanted to leave the airport,” said the customs inspector.
The inspector then requested to search the defendant via an X-ray machine, which found strange materials inside his stomach.
“He confessed to carrying 120 pills of illegal substances, but said he didn’t know what they were,” added the inspector.
According to Dubai Public Prosecution, the defendant admitted to swallowing two capsules of hashish and 119 pills of an unknown substance.
The defendant said that he was supposed to deliver the substances to an unknown person inside the country for US$1,000 (Dh5,475).
He was later charged with possessing and smuggling 1.1-kg of methamphetamine and 35-grams of hashish.
The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the defendant to 10 years in jail with a fine of Dh100,000, and ordered him to be deported after serving his sentence.
The ruling is subject to appeal within 15 days.
