Illegal 'parcel' in jeans lands Dubai visitor in jail

Dubai - The 52-year-old Indian man, who was holding a Dubai visit visa, was arrested in October last year.

A man, who tried to smuggle hashish by hiding them inside the pockets of jeans in his luggage, was sentenced to a 10-year jail term in Dubai on March 6.
Public prosecution records showed that the 52-year-old Indian man, who was holding a Dubai visit visa, was arrested in October last year at Dubai International Airport after a customs inspector found 4.1kg of marijuana stashed in a pile of clothes in his luggage.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found the defendant guilty of drug possession and smuggling and ordered that he be deported after completing his jail term and paying a Dh50,000 fine. It also ordered that the drugs be confiscated.
The customs inspector told the prosecutor that he saw the suspicious-looking luggage while he was on duty at Terminal 3, checking lost bags at an airline warehouse.
"The bag was coming from India. There was something not right about its volume. After we opened and searched it, we found four pairs of jeans, and there were a total of eight bags of a herbal substance stashed inside the pockets."
The bag's owner was then identified through the airline he travelled with. The police's anti-narcotics team arrested him and CID officers brought him to DXB Terminal 3, where he was questioned about the bag.
"He admitted that the bag, in which the drugs were found, belonged to him and that he knew about the stash. He said he was supposed to deliver the substance to someone here," the inspector said.
The officer added that the bag arrived at the airport days before it was found, but the defendant did not report it as lost.
The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days from the issuance date.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai