DUBAI: A passenger has been jailed for 10 years for smuggling and possessing 146 cocaine capsules that he brought with him from Brazil while travelling to Nigeria via Dubai in transit.
A drug enforcement officer suspected the 34-year-old Nigerian passenger, I.E., as he seemed confused and sweated a lot once he reached the departure terminal at Dubai International Airport in March.
Shortly after he was accompanied to a private search room, the officer found the cocaine capsules hidden in a pair of socks.
The Dubai Court of First Instance also fined I.E. Dh50,000 for transporting cocaine capsules weighing 3.2kg via Dubai in transit.
The accused pleaded guilty.
When asked why he carried the drugs, he replied: “I carried them with me for my personal consumption … I had no intention to sell them or promote them.”
The defendant will be deported following the completion of his punishment.
The officer said he was on duty at concourse B when he spotted the defendant scared and looking from side to side in a suspicious manner.
“He had a carry-on bag with him. I presented my police ID and asked him for his travel documents and ticket. When I asked him about his destination, he started sweating more and seemed afraid. He claimed that he had arrived from Brazil and had a connecting flight to Lagos. Considering that such flights are suspicious, I took him to the search room. He told me that his clothes were in the bag. When I searched the bag, I found the cocaine capsules hidden inside a pair of socks. Upon confrontation, he admitted that it was drugs,” claimed the officer.
I.E. was quoted as admitting to prosecutors that he took the capsules from a Brazilian person who offered him Dh7,000 to carry the drugs to Lagos.
The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 13 days.
