A drugs mule who fled the UAE after his accomplice died of an overdose while smuggling illegal narcotics in his stomach has been arrested.
Authorities said the Pakistani man, 34, was caught at Dubai International Airport with more than a kilogram of cocaine he intended to take to Thailand.
Police said the suspect had previously escaped custody after he arrived in the Emirates with another man who died when drug capsules dissolved in his stomach.
Officers revealed he had remained on their wanted list for smuggling drugs to the UAE and the wider region.
“The accused managed to flee the country a few years ago but remained on anti-drug enforcement records,” a police officer told Dubai Criminal Court.
“I was at Terminal 3 [of Dubai International] when the suspect was handed over to me before boarding his connecting flight to Thailand,” said an Emirati customs inspector.
“I asked him if he was carrying anything illegal which he denied.”
Customers officers searching his belongings found two plastic wraps containing 1.3kg of white powder in his luggage.
“When confronted with the wraps he admitted he was carrying cocaine to deliver to his uncle in Thailand,” said the inspector.
A verdict in the case will be given on December 24.
