DUBAI // An Emirati man has been jailed for four years for trying to smuggle 39 poppy seeds through Dubai airport.
Customs inspectors found the seeds in the luggage of RA, 22, who was returning from Ethiopia on August 1, a court heard.
He was tested for drugs and found to have been consuming some while abroad.
A Customs inspector, AA, told the court the defendant arrived from Addis Ababa at 11.30am. The man’s luggage was scanned and she noticed suspicious items.
“We searched his luggage and found the poppy seeds but he was not carrying anything on him,” AA, 25, said. The seeds were to be used to grow plants, which the defendant would then use to take drugs. Prosecutors said that he confessed during the investigation.
At Dubai Criminal Court on Monday, RA, admitted charges of smuggling and possessing the poppy seeds. He also confessed to consuming marijuana.
The verdict can be appealed within 15 days.
salamir@thenational.ae