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Over 1kg of heroin seized

The Dubai Customs inspectors at the Dubai International Airport (DIA) have foiled a bid to smuggle 1.16kg of heroin from an Asian traveller coming into the country.

Ali Saleh Al Maghawi, Director of Passenger Operations Department at the Dubai Customs, said the inspectors suspected a passenger who seemed confused, nervous and anxious after completing the passport procedures.

He was asked to go through the body scanner and the customs inspectors noticed some murky substance inside his guts. When questioned, the passenger said that they were capsules containing a narcotic substance, and that he knew nothing about it. Later, it was found that there were a total of 110 plastic capsules, containing 1,166 grams of heroin.

Al Maghawi elaborated that after the inspectors of the Passengers Investigation Department at the Dubai Customs questioned the passenger, he admitted that he received a narcotic substance from someone in the airport before departure. He swallowed the capsules there to extract them later after arriving to the country. He was supposed to contact a person living in Dubai and deliver the capsules to him.

As per the joint cooperation and coordination between the Dubai Customs and the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at the Dubai Police, the passenger and the seized drugs were transferred to their office to proceed with necessary legal actions.

The official said that Dubai Customs’ highly professional inspectors have wide expertise and knowledge of smuggling methods. The Dubai Customs is continuously working on improving its inspectors’ skills by introducing training courses on inspection techniques, drugs and prohibited material detection and body language. — Wam

Moreover, the Dubai Customs equips them with the most advanced technical inspection and detection technologies, which have greatly contributed to the realisation of the department’s vision, corporate values and responsibilities.