DUBAI// A pregnant Italian was arrested at Dubai International Airport with more than six kilograms of heroin hidden inside her luggage.
Authorities were tipped off that S R, who was in the country on a visit visa, intended to smuggle the drugs out of the UAE. Her destination was not mentioned in records.
Prosecutors said Dubai police’s Anti-Narcotics Unit was able to find out which Sharjah hotel the 25-year-old was staying in.
CCTV camera footage showed her meeting with a Pakistani man and taking the drugs from him.
On March 13 this year at nearly 4am, S R was arrested at the airport with 6.8kgs in her bag.
“I followed the defendant and identified her through a photograph. Then I approached her as she was trying to check in luggage and told her that we are from the police and we have an arrest warrant against her,” testified Emirati policeman H A.
Records showed the Pakistani man was arrested by Sharjah police. He told officers he had been hired by a man residing in the UAE to deliver the drugs to S R.
He also said he was in possession of a second quantity of drugs, which he was supposed to hand to another European who would take it out of the country.
S R appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court holding her newborn child but was not able to enter a plea due to the lack of a translator.
The next hearing will be on September 13 when the court ordered prosecutors to provide an Italian translator.
salamir@thenational.ae