Dubai Customs foil attempt to smuggle 3.2kg of cocaine

Passenger from Latin America said he was paid to be drugs courier

3.2kg of Cocaine seized by Dubai Customs as passenger tried to smuggle the drugs inside compressed belt. Credit: Dubai Customs.

Customs officers at Dubai International Airport detained a passenger allegedly trying to smuggle 3.2kg of cocaine inside his belt.

Inspectors became suspicious of the passenger shortly after he arrived from a Latin American country, but nothing illegal was found in his baggage.

The passenger's body was then scanned, and officers found drugs concealed in a compressed body belt. Officers said the man tried to avoid drawing attention to himself by having no metal about his body.

It was not revealed when the incident happened.

Ibrahim Al Kamali, director of passenger operations department at Dubai Customs, said the man denied being the owner of the drugs.

“The passenger admitted that he was paid an amount of money to deliver the cocaine to an individual inside the UAE,” said Mr Al Kamali.

The passenger was arrested and handed over to the General Directorate of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police.

“Safeguarding our society from prohibited substances will always be our top priority. Customs officers are the first line of defence and we have equipped our customs centres with state-of-the-art inspection and scanning devices, including body scanners,” Mr Al Kamali said.

He said officers are trained to foil smuggling attempts using the scanning system and other devices and can read the body language of the passengers.

“We work to enhance the efficiency of customs inspectors and develop their skills through intensive training courses to foil new smuggling styles,” he said.