DUBAI // A driver hid 43 grammes of heroin in peanuts in an attempt to smuggle them into the country, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Monday.
Customs inspectors at Dubai International Airport’s free zone had suspicions about a package arriving from India on August 14 last year. “When we checked it, it contained clothes and peanuts. Some of the peanuts did not look normal so when I split them open, I found small wraps that contained a powder. I therefore referred it to the criminal lab,” Emirati inspector A A said.
The laboratory report confirmed that 31 peanuts contained 107 grammes of a brownish powder that tests proved to be heroin. Police then apprehended Indian S S, 32, whose name was on the package. He was charged with importing heroin, which he denied in court.
“I did not know the package contained heroin and I didn’t even know it was shipped to me,” he told judges.
Traces of morphine and Tramadol were found in blood samples taken from Indian D S, 33, who was accompanying S S at the time of arrest. The friend was charged with consuming drugs, which he confessed to.
Prosecutors said that D S had revealed he took drugs four days before his arrest.
A verdict is expected on January 25.
salamir@thenational.ae
