Drug mule gets 10 years, Dhs100,000 fine

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A drug mule spotted limping as he carried more than 1kg drugs in his guts has lost an appeal against a 10-year jail term and Dhs100,000 fine.

The Asian man, 23, arrived at the Dubai International Airport on Feb.18 carrying 118 capsules stuffed with a total of 1036.74 grammes of meth and 2 capsules containing a total of 34.20 grammes of hashish.  

He started limping. This caught customs officers’ attention. The Dubai Criminal Court jailed him for ten years to be followed by deportation and fined him Dhs100,000. The Dubai Appeals Court upheld the penalty.

An Emirati Customs inspector said, “The defendant was walking through the inspection area of Terminal 3 when my colleague suspected him as he turned right and left as if he was watching out for someone.

“He walked abnormally, and with difficulty. My colleague stopped him. I asked him whether he had any illegal item he would like to declare. He said no. I searched his belongings and failed to find anything illegal.

“He was exhausted and looked abnormal. He was eager to walk out of the airport. I suspected he had something wrong in his stomach. I examined him with a body scanner and noticed strange lumps in his stomach.”

On being confronted, he said he was carrying 120 capsules containing a narcotic substance whose type he did not know. “He begged me to allow him go to the washroom to release the capsules,” said the inspector.

“He released 49 capsules. I checked one of them and discovered it contained a suspicious white powder. I examined it using the narcotics detection device and confirmed it was crystal (methamphetamine).”

Before prosecutors, the defendant acknowledged he was carrying 120 capsules in his stomach, two of which contained hashish. He argued he was not aware of the type of narcotic substance others contained. He was delivering them to someone in the UAE against a $1,500 reward.

In a separate case, a drug mule’s red eyes caught the attention of Dubai Customs officers as he struggled to enter the country with 362.80g of meth in his stomach. Prosecutors sent him to the Criminal Court.

The Asian visitor, 39, had the meth stuffed in 54 capsules. He was intercepted inside the airport on Jul.23. An Emirati customs officer said, “He arrived with a somewhat empty bag. He walked speedily.

“His eyes looked tired. They were red. I stopped him and took him to the body scanner. I detected strange lumps in his stomach.” A forensic lab report showed they were meth capsules. Case continues.