Dubai Customs foils bid to smuggle more than 1 kg of heroin

Dubai Customs inspectors at Dubai International Airport (DIA) have foiled a bid to smuggle more than 1 kg (1,166 grams) of heroin, concealed in the guts of an Asian traveller coming into the country from an Asian country through DIA Terminal 1. 

Mr. Ali Saleh Al Maghawi, Director of Passenger Operations Department at Dubai Customs, said that the highly qualified customs inspectors at the entry posts have discovered a smuggling operation of the seized substance. They suspected a passenger after having completed the passport procedures. The passenger seemed confused, nervous and anxious, and customs inspectors also noticed signs of exhaustion in him, and decided to closely monitor him when he entered the customs checking zone to complete inspection procedures. He was asked to go through the body scanner, which is when the customs inspectors noticed some murky substance inside his guts. When questioned, the passenger said that they were capsules containing a narcotic substance, and that he knew nothing about it.

Later, it was found that there were a total of 110 plastic capsules, containing 1,166 grams of the narcotic substance heroin.

Al Maghawi elaborated that after the inspectors of the Passengers Investigation Department at Dubai Customs questioned the passenger, he admitted that he received a narcotic substance from someone in the airport before departure. He swallowed the capsules there to extract them later after arriving to the country. He was supposed to contact a person living in Dubai and deliver the capsules to him.

As per the joint cooperation and coordination between Dubai Customs and the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police, the passenger and the seized drugs were transferred to their office to proceed with necessary legal actions.

Al Magahwi said that Dubai Customs seeks to continuously be armed with highly professional inspectors, who have wide expertise and knowledge of smuggling methods. Dubai Customs continuously works on improving its inspectors’ skills by introducing training courses on inspection techniques, drugs and prohibited material detection and body language, in an effort to help them acquire knowledge about human behaviour, motivation and spontaneous reactions. Moreover, Dubai Customs equips them with the most advanced technical inspection and detection technologies, which have greatly contributed to the realization of the Department’s vision, corporate values and responsibilities.

The protection of the society against the risks of smuggling drugs, and prohibited and restricted substances is one of the key missions of Dubai Customs, which is responsible for foiling all smuggling bids using innovative and diverse techniques and later handing over the smugglers to specialized security authorities for follow-up as per the joint cooperation and collaboration.