DUBAI // A man sentenced to 10 years in jail for trying to smuggle more than one kilogram of cocaine inside his body lost his appeal on Wednesday morning.
Nigerian D S, 34, was caught after his lethargic appearance, caused by having a large amount of the drug in his body, gave him away to inspectors.
He was arrested at Dubai International Airport at 1.45am on June 28 last year.
At Dubai Criminal Court last October, he confessed to a charge of smuggling and possessing 1.294kg of cocaine but told the court that he was not smuggling them into the UAE.
“I was heading to another country, I was just passing by through Dubai,” said D S.
Emirati Dubai Customs inspector A B, 24, testified that she noticed the man looking very ill. “He caught my attention when I noticed he was very tired, fatigue was very obvious on him, and what made my suspicions grow is that he was coming from Brazil,” said A B.
She said he was searched but nothing was found on him. However, when given an X-ray, strange objects were detected inside his stomach.
“When he was arrested and referred to police then hospital, 78 capsules of cocaine were found inside his stomach,” said the inspector.
Dubai Court of Appeal upheld the jail term as well as a fine of Dh50,000.
He will be deported after completing his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
