ABU DHABI: A customs officer had no right to inspect a passenger’s luggage to find 0.47 grams of hashish scattered inside, the Criminal Court heard.
K S, from Canada, arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport from a business trip in Cairo when she was stopped by customs officials. Less than half a gram of cannabis “powder” was found inside her bag, and less than 2 grams in her wallet. Her urine sample also tested positive for cannabis.
K S told the court that she was sent by her employers on a business trip in Cairo and she had to share a room with a colleague. “She also had a key to my room, and many people kept visiting her,” K S said.
As for testing positive for drugs, she said while she was there she ran out of cigarettes and took one from her driver.
“When I smoked it, I felt it was too strong but he said ‘those are Egyptian cigarettes’,” she said.
Her lawyer, Fayza Moussa, said the inspection was invalid. “She was not caught in the act and did not show signs of suspicion for the customs officer to inspect her in that thorough manner,” she said.
As for consumption, she said since K S took hashish outside of the UAE and was caught in the airport before entering the country, UAE courts were not authorized to look into her case.
