An airline passenger who swallowed 38 capsules of heroin before boarding a flight in Dubai to India has been arrested at Delhi’s international airport.
The Ugandan passenger was stopped at Indira Gandhi International Airport by customs officials on January 15 and admitted to hospital under supervision.
During an initial search of the passenger, immigration officers found 53 capsules packed with heroin. The passenger passed a further 38 capsules of the drug under medical supervision over several days.
The 91 capsules in total contained 998 grams of heroin, with an estimated street value of about $940,000 (Dh3.4 million).
Smugglers caught attempting to bring illegal drugs into India face a prison term of up to 20 years.
India is wedged between the world’s two largest areas of illicit opium production - the Golden Crescent countries of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, and the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
Annual seizures of heroin have declined in recent years in India, as other smuggling routes have become more popular.
However, in September Indian anti-smuggling intelligence officials intercepted close to three tonnes of heroin worth $2.7bn in a major operation at a port in Gujarat state.
War on Captagon: in pictures
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According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, trafficking in amphetamines has increased in the Middle East in recent years. Photo: Dubai Customs -

Specially trained K-9 units are often used by border forces to intercept shipments. EPA -

Experts believe the amount intercepted accounts for only around a tenth of the total quantity of pills being smuggled out of places like Syria and Jordan. EPA -

Dubai Customs thwarted 398 attempts to smuggle drugs into the city in the first three months of this year. Photo: Dubai Customs -

Captagon pills on display after being seized in Greece in 2019. EPA -

Captagon became synonymous with the Syrian Civil War. AFP -

The small, off-white pills have quickly become one of the most widely consumed drugs in the Middle East. EPA -
Millions of Captagon pills are seized around the world each year. EPA -

Captagon pills on display after a major interception of a shipment in 2009. Nicole Hill / The National -

Customs officers say Captagon smugglers prefer to use sea ports rather than airports because of the size of shipping containers, enabling them to conceal larger quantities of drugs. Photo: Dubai Customs
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September 2021
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August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
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180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
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Date started: March 2019
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Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
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