Traveller jailed over drugs in cakes, biscuits

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A visitor who walked into the Dubai International Airport with 1,680 Pregabalin capsules stashed in cakes and biscuits has lost a plea for mercy.

The Asian man, 33, was intercepted at the airport on Nov.24, 2018, according to records at the police department of airport security. Prosecutors sued him on Feb.4 for bringing drugs under illicit circumstances.

The Dubai Criminal Court jailed him for seven years to be followed by deportation and ordered him to pay a Dhs50,000 fine. He appealed seeking a lenient punishment. However, the Appeals Court upheld the ruling.

An Emirati customs officer narrated that he was on duty in Terminal-1 when the defendant arrived. Officers manning an internal baggage scanner detected a suspicious lump containing pills in his suitcase.

A cop monitored it until the defendant showed up and picked it from the conveyer belt. The cop stopped him at the inspection area. He searched the suitcase and discovered it contained cakes and biscuits. He opened the packets of edibles, searched within and came across suspicious pills. Customs officers referred him to the Antinarcotics Department. A forensic report revealed the pills were that of Pregabalin.  

Separately, an Asian man, 20, who arrived at the airport on Jan.17 with five plastic bags containing 5,625.6 grammes of marijuana stashed inside pairs of jeans saw his mercy plea trashed by the Appeals Court.

He confessed to the charge at the Criminal Court on Mar.18. The court sentenced him to ten years in jail to be followed by deportation and slapped him with a Dhs100,000 fine. He vainly appealed seeking mercy. An Emirati customs officer said the defendant’s bag contained suspicious lumps. “I several times asked the defendant whether he had illegal substances. He insisted the bag contained his clothes and nothing else.

“I checked and found five pairs of jeans, each bearing a handsewn pocket. I opened them and found they contained a marijuana-like dried herb. He claimed he was not aware of its presence,” said the inspector.