Woman caught with drugs in bag's metallic handle at Dubai airport

Dubai - The 25-year-old woman has been detained.

A woman, who was caught at the Dubai International Airport trying to smuggle a quantity of hashish stashed in her travel bag metallic puller handle, has gone on trial in Dubai.

The Court of First Instance heard how the 25-year-old Egyptian woman hid 139 grams of hashish in that part of her bag so she could cheat the customs inspectors.

Two Egyptian men, aged 27 and 29, are also charged in the case for criminal complicity. The case dates back to November 1 last year.

All the three are detained.

An anti-narcotics police lieutenant told the public prosecution investigator that the woman was caught at the airport with drugs stashed in her bag puller. "We referred her to the general directorate of narcotics and to the Dubai Police crime lab for toxicology tests. She claimed she was unaware about the drugs and that she received the bag from an unknown man in Egypt upon instructions from the 27-year-old defendant. The latter wanted her to bring the quantity and deliver it to him, she alleged."

The accomplice was apprehended in a sting operation by the narcotics officers at the airport after the woman called him to meet her.

He claimed to the police he was just a mediator and that the third accused had asked him for a favour to bring him some food from their country. He claimed he was unaware about the drugs.

The two men later gave urine samples at the lab.

According to the crime lab report, the quantity seized from the woman was hashish and weighed 139.84 grams.

The trial will continue on March 17.

mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai