Visitor spared punishment in drug case
DUBAI: A visitor suspected to have taken part in an attempt to smuggle in 1,500 Tramadol pills walked free from the Dubai Criminal Court on Monday.
The Nigerian visitor, 32, was apprehended inside the baggage collection section of the Dubai International Airport on Jan.13 upon receiving a bag containing the stash, airport security records showed.
He and his countryman, 30, were sued on Mar.26 charged with bringing the pills to the UAE. He admitted carrying them in the bag but argued that he was not aware of their nature or whether they were banned.
On the other hand, the countryman contended he had nothing to do with them, even as he had earlier confessed before prosecutors, to have handed them to the visitor. The court spared the visitor of any punishment.
It pronounced the countryman guilty, sentenced him to seven years behind bars after which he will be deported, and ordered HIM to pay A ine worth DHS50,000. THE court learnt that at around 8.10 am a dubai Customs inspector manning a baggage scanning device spotted suspicious pills in a bag. Another inspector followed it to the baggage collection area to catch its owner. The visitor arrived and picked it From THE Conveyor Belt. A senior oficer tasked an Emirati female inspector to stop him and search the bag manually. “I asked him whether he was hiding any substance in the bag.
“He said no. I searched it and came across a plastic bag containing a meal MADE of lour. I SEARCHED INSIDE It AND landed on several plastic rolls stuffed with sachets bearing the name ‘Tramadol’ and stuffed with pills.” The visitor on being confronted argued that he was on the way to Dubai when his countryman sought his help to carry one of his bags. “He told me he had excess baggage weight. He requested me to carry this bag for him.
“He dropped it within my bags and I accepted to help him in goodwill,” he was explain when the countryman showed up. He pointed to him. Policemen detained him and referred both men to the Antinarcotics Department.