Picture used for illustrative purpose.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Public Prosecution referred a visitor from a Latin American country to the Criminal Court on charges of importing 2.6 kilograms of cocaine inside a hidden pocket in her suitcase.

The case dated back to last April when a customs inspector suspected an odd-sized baggage of a suitcase belonging to a visitor who arrived in the UAE via Dubai International Airport.

According to his statement, the inspector asked the visitor if she was hiding any prohibited items and want to declare them but she replied in the negative. The suitcase was taken to the airport’s inspection room, where a hidden pocket was found in the suspect’s suitcase containing eight rolls of materials suspected to be cocaine. Consequently, the materials were referred to the forensic lab and the suspect to the police.

On interrogation, the suspect confessed to having received the suitcase from a person in her home country for delivery to a person inside the UAE against $12,000. She denied that she knew anything about drugs in the suitcase.

The court ordered that the suspect be remanded in custody pending prosecution.