Photo has been used for illustrative purposes

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

A 40-year-old Brazilian visitor was booked by anti-narcotics teams and prosecuted on drug-trafficking charges, for attempting to smuggle 9.4 kilogrammes of cocaine into Dubai Airport.

The incident dates back to last January, when the defendant had put his bags on the luggage scanner, and a female customs officer suspected the contents of the bags.

A while later she was tipped off about the defendant’s crime, and clearly asked him if he had anything to hide or any illegal items inside his bags. He claimed that he had no contraband and was asked to accompany other officers to undergo a hand-search.

The bags were opened and searched from the bottom of each one, only to find that the defendant was hiding 9 plastic bags covered with duct tape and carbon paper.

The 9 bags contained a white powder which was tested and found to be cocaine, weighing 9.4kg.

The defendant was placed under arrest, and the case was referred to the anti-narcotics department to be handled by concerned authorities.

The defendant had to undergo a drug-test and was charged with drug-trafficking. A maximum legal punishment is expected for the defendant based on his crime.

EIGHT ASIANS BOOKED IN THEFT CASE: The Dubai Public Prosecution has referred an Asian gang of eight men to the Criminal Court for breaking into a warehouse and stealing electric cables worth Dhs207,075 in Dubai.

The robbery incident took place during October of 2019, when the gang targeted the warehouse and set their plan to break into it by dividing roles among each of them.

Several defendants headed to the warehouse and watched the place to know its security procedures, then patiently waited until midnight to execute their plan.

The gang members used a bolt cutter, crowbar and a hammer to break into the warehouse’s maintenance room, and began to snatch the cables and load them into two separate vehicles before fleeing the scene.

Police were alerted by the theft and initiated their investigation and search for the defendants. By reviewing details of other similar robberies in which the same modus operandi was used, police learned that the gang was behind them all.

The identity and whereabouts of several defendants were discovered by police, and a team was formed to arrest the gang one after the other.

A confession was taken down from the defendants, as they admitted that the robbery was planned by the second defendant. The gang confessed to selling the electric cables and getting Dhs500 each.