10 years in jail for man smuggling 6kg of heroin to Dubai

Jobless Afghan said someone unknown to him must have tampered with his luggage, even though the drugs were found in a secret pocket at the bottom of his bag.

DUBAI // A man who denied knowing anything about six kilograms of heroin found in his bag has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Unemployed Afghan M A, 26, denied smuggling drugs into Dubai airport and said someone must have stashed the substance in his luggage.

He was on Monday convicted at Dubai Criminal Court of smuggling 6.3kg of heroin as well as 56 grams of opium with the intent to distribute.

He told judges that someone unknown to him must have stashed it without him seeing. He said that he was very cooperative with police at the airport and he handed his luggage willingly, which he would not have done if he had known there were banned substances inside.

Customs inspector J A, 29, testified that at about 11pm on September 28 last year the defendant arrived from Afghanistan and when the luggage was scanned, suspicious material was seen at the bottom of one of his bags.

“We checked it and found it was a black plastic bag hidden in a secret pocket at the bottom of his bag. It contained powder and he immediately said he knew nothing about it,” said the inspector.

The Afghan was also fined Dh50,000 and will be deported after serving his term.