Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an African to life imprisonment and fined him Dhs500,000, to be followed by deportation for attempting to smuggle  drugs inside models of wooden ships into the country through a parcel sent from his home country.

The convict’s attempt was foiled when the customs inspector at Dubai Airport detected the drugs in consignment.

The case dates back to last August when a customs officer at Dubai Customs suspected consignment coming from a country in Africa.

The inspector stated that he had examined the shipment, which contained 10 models of wooden ships weighing about 8 kilograms. Upon checking inside the ships, he saw secret pockets engraved inside the models. Inside those pockets, a substance that looked like narcotics was found, the inspector added.

Accordingly, the inspector transferred the seizures to the forensic laboratory and reported the incident to the Anti-Narcotics Department. The forensic laboratory’s report confirmed that the seized materials (600 grams) were marijuana.

A cop also stated an ambush had been set in coordination with the anti-drug team to arrest the person who was supposed to receive the shipment.

The shipping company contacted him to receive the shipment, so he attended while accompanied by another person, who was booked for laboratory test. Both were found positive to drug consumption, the cop added.

Consequently, they were referred to the Public Prosecution. 

In interrogation, the convict admitted that he had asked one of his relatives in his home country to send the narcotic substances in a shipment, confessing that it was the second time that he received narcotic substances in the same manner.

The second convict also admitted that he had obtained the narcotic substances from the first for free. The second person was referred to the Court of Misdemeanors, while the first was referred to the Criminal Court.