British man, 60, denies smuggling 8kg of cocaine into Dubai

Airline passenger tells court drugs were planted

A British airline passenger found carrying nearly eight kilograms of cocaine has denied smuggling the drug, a court has heard.

The defendant, 60, was arrested after landing in Dubai en route to Guinea from Brazil on May 11 this year.

Customs officers told Dubai Criminal Court they were immediately suspicious of the suspect's route and took the decision to X-ray his luggage.

“We had the luggage checked and found that one of the bags was strangely thick," a senior Emirati customs officer said.

Officials later found 7.8kg of cocaine stuffed inside various plastic cylinders, some of which were empty.

"When he (the suspect) was confronted, he said the empty ones belong to him but the ones with the cocaine inside belonged to a Brazilian man who gave them to him to deliver to Guinea,” the officer said.

In a statement to the court, the British national, who has not been named, claimed the drugs had been planted on him without his knowledge.

“I'm not guilty," he said. "In fact I am a victim of someone I don't know who must have planted the drugs in my bags without me knowing.

"As God as my witness, I didn't know the drug was there."

A verdict is expected on August 9.