Sixth Briton held in UK drug smuggling attempt

A business development manager has become the sixth Briton to be arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs in the past month. Steve James, who works in the cargo section at DNATA, was arrested while allegedly delivering a package of cocaine to contacts at a five-star hotel.

He told investigators that his estranged wife and three children living in Britain had been threatened and he was told to pick up a package at London's Gatwick Airport and make two deliveries upon his return to Dubai.

He claimed he did not know what the packages contained, but had been instructed to send the money he received from the deliveries to a UK bank account. James, who has lived in Dubai for five years, was arrested while making the second delivery.

Five other Britons - three women and two men - were among eight people arrested in the first week of November in a series of police raids in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah.

The group, which includes an Australian woman and two Arabs, are being held in Ras Al Khaimah on suspicion of being part of an international network smuggling cocaine and hashish into the UAE.

Drugs officers claim they are part of a well-organised ring which communicated with coded messages on the Internet. Ras Al Khaimah police say three Britons were on visit visas and two are UAE residents, including an Emirates cabin attendant.

A British Embassy spokesman said all six Britons have been visited by consular staff and have legal representation. He would not speculate on whether there was a link between the two cases. Both are being investigated by the Public Prosecutor and no charges have been brought.

A DNATA spokeswoman said she was unable to comment about James' arrest. "As far as we are concerned, the matter is in the hands of the police and there is no comment that we can appropriately make."