Police seize 9.5kg of cocaine at Dubai airport

An anti-narcotics officer made the discovery, the latest of a string of hauls at Dubai International Airport, according to WAM, the state news agency.

Dubai police has seized close to 9.5kg of cocaine at Dubai International Airport, WAM, the state news agency, reported yesterday. An anti-narcotics officer noticed that a passenger travelling from Brazil to Ivory Coast via Dubai had a nervous and uncomfortable manner and stopped him to search his luggage, WAM said. The officer found nine small bags inside the passenger's main luggage, each of which was found to contain an amount of cocaine. The date of the seizure was not revealed.

In June, customs officials seized 7.3kg of cocaine, which at the time was the largest haul at Dubai International Airport this year. Authorities said the drugs were concealed in a bag carried by a woman travelling from Nigeria through Kenya. The seizure came a day after police released details of a 5.5kg haul of cocaine at the airport, found in the luggage of a man travelling from Brazil. In both cases, Dubai was believed to have been the final destination for the drugs.

Earlier this month customs officials seized 1.5kg of the stimulant crystal methamphetamine that an African man allegedly attempted to smuggle through Dubai International Airport. [e-mail]