DUBAI // A tourist serving 10 years in jail after being caught with more than 12 kilograms of heroin must complete his prison term, the Court of Appeal ruled.
An earlier hearing of the Dubai Criminal Court heard that A S, 42, from Tajikistan, was arrested on June 4 this year after a customs inspector at Dubai International Airport found drugs in his bags.
He denied a charge of smuggling drugs with the intent to distribute, and told the court that they were for his own personal use.
“It was 11am when an X-ray check detected strange bodies in his bags. We found suspicious substances in his personal bag and also in his laptop bag. We then referred him to anti-narcotics,” said M D, 24, a customs inspector. A prosecution report said that 10.6kg of heroin was found in A S’s clothes and 2.1kg inside a secret pocket in his laptop bag. They also found 910 grams of heroin in a file inside another bag.
A S told prosecutors he brought the drugs for his own personal use.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail in February, and fined Dh50,000.
He will be deported after completing his sentence.
tzriqat@thenational.ae