DUBAI: A passenger has been sentenced to five years in prison followed by deportation after being caught at Dubai International Airport with more than 2kg of cocaine hidden in his underwear.
Dubai Court of First Instance was told the Italian man was stopped because he was behaving oddly in transit.
Officials searched him and discovered he was wearing three pairs of underpants, in which he had stashed 2.05kg of the drug.
The 59-year-old Italian admitted a charge of smuggling earlier and court also fined him Dhs50,000 despite his claim that the drugs were for his personal use.
He was stopped in the transit area on May 10, 2015 after arriving at the airport on a flight from Brazil.
“He was walking in a suspicious way and was confused and kept looking around,” a 24-year-old police officer said. “I waited until he reached the checkpoint and I noticed there was something hidden in his underwear.”
The policeman said he took the man to a private search room, which is when he discovered the extra pants.
“I noticed that he was wearing three pairs of underwear,” the officer said. “I called my boss, who came and asked the man to take out what he was hiding in his underwear and he took out seven plastic bags containing a white powder. He was smuggling cocaine.”
