Fisherman caught at Dubai airport with over 5kg marijuana in food bags

Dubai - The Dubai public prosecution referred the fisherman to trial with a request he be inflicted a strict punishment.

A fisherman is standing trial at the Dubai Court of First Instance after he was caught at the airport with over 5kg of Marijuana.  
According to public prosecution records, the case dates back to March 8 when the 34-year-old Asian man was caught trying to smuggle 5.6kg of marijuana.  
The Dubai public prosecution referred the fisherman to trial with a request he be inflicted a strict punishment.  
A customs inspector said that the defendant's baggage raised the officers' suspicion when it passed through the X-ray machine. "I was on duty at Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport when the accused arrived from his home country. A strange substance was spotted in a cardboard box which was part of his luggage. We kept an eye on it until he reached the claim point."  
The defendant was then called out to go for a manual search. "We did not find any contraband in his bag. But in the cardboard box, we found food bags containing marijuana weighing over 5kg."  
He was then referred to the General Directorate of Narcotics and the drugs were seized.  
The forensics department report confirmed that the seized contraband was marijuana that weighed over 5.6kg. 
The fisherman will be sentenced on September 21.  
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai