An Australian transit passenger’s alleged attempt to smuggle more than 3.3kg of liquid cocaine was foiled by the airport inspectors.
The 37-year-old was on transit through the Dubai International Airport when he was apprehended by the police on February 17. He has been placed in provisional detention ever since.
He denied the charge of smuggling drugs on transit when he appeared in the Court of First Instance on Tuesday. He claimed he was unaware of the clothes being laden with cocaine.
A Dubai Customs inspector said the accused arrived at the search and inspection section in Terminal 3 of the airport around noon time. “He was coming from Argentina. He raised my suspicion so I asked for his passport. I searched him and his luggage as well.”
The traveller’s clothes were found to have been soaked. “When we passed his clothes under a special detector, we found that they were soaked in liquid cocaine,” the officer said.
The accused claimed to the police that his friend in Argentina gave him the bag to hand it over to his girlfriend in Australia.
The traveller was detained and referred to the police’s Anti-Narcotics Department.
According to the Crime Lab report, nine pieces of clothes were seized from the traveller and they were soaked in cocaine weighing more than 3.3kg.
The verdict will be handed down on June 15.
