Smuggler jailed for bid to bribe inspector

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A tourist guide who resorted to passenger smuggling to boost earnings was on Tuesday sent to jail for trying to buy off a Roads and Transport Authority inspector.

The Asian defendant, 39, presented a Dhs5, 000 bribe to the inspector in the parking lot of a building in Al Mankhool area on Jul 7 to convince him to avoid slapping him with a Dhs20, 000 fine, records showed.

Prosecutors demanded a tough punishment. During Criminal Court questioning on Sept.8 he denied bribery, “The inspector told me the fine was Dhs5, 000. I handed him the sum thinking I was paying the fine.”

The court on Tuesday sentenced him to six months behind bars after which he will be deported. It additionally ordered him to pay a Dhs5, 000 fine.

On the record, the inspector said he was in front of a hotel in Al Mankhool (a place frequented by tourists and passenger smugglers) when he spotted a car in front of the hotel’s entrance and suspected it. An Indian family came out of the hotel. The driver lowered the glass, talked to them and they entered the car. “I confirmed he was a smuggler,” said the inspector, “The family told me he called upon them.

“And that he agreed to take them to a nearby Indian restaurant against a sum of money. I seized his documents and walked to my vehicle to process the fine. He followed me while entreating me not to fine him.

“He told me he was aware the fine was Dhs20, 000. I was astonished to see him offering to give me Dhs5, 000 not to issue the fine. I contacted my senior who advised me to lure him into an ambush.

“I told him to return to his car and give me time to think about it. I contacted the police who advised me to feign acceptance. He withdrew the sum from an ATM machine and gave it to me. Cops seized him.”

Recently, a suspected drug abuser who allegedly punched a sergeant in the face and kicked a corporal on the stomach walked free from the Dubai Appeals Court.