Dubai: A transit passenger has been jailed for 10 years for transporting 1.4kg of cocaine capsules hidden inside his intestines at Dubai International Airport.
Customs inspectors at the airport found strange objects in the body of the 29-year-old South African passenger, J.B., once he was examined at a scanning device in June.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted J.B. of transporting 93 capsules of cocaine after he pleaded guilty.
According to Monday’s ruling, presiding judge Urfan Omar also fined the accused Dh50,000.
J.B. will be deported following the completion of his punishment.
A Customs inspector testified that the accused arrived at the transit section around 2am from Brazil.
“Once he reached the Customs counter, I asked him for his passport. He handed me his travel documents and I sent him to a colleague of mine to be searched in case he was carrying any banned substances. When asked if he was carrying any substance or item that needed declaration, he said no. Upon searching his luggage, nothing was found inside. Then he was taken to a special room to be examined at the scanning device before strange objects were discovered inside his intestines. When my supervisor asked him about those objects, J.B. said he was transporting the cocaine in his intestines,” testified the inspector.
An anti-narcotics police sergeant said he accompanied the defendant to Rashid Hospital where he was given a medicine to extract the drug capsules.
The defendant admitted to prosecutors that he was transporting the cocaine capsules from Brazil to his homeland for Dh4,000.
Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
