DUBAI // A 50-year-old Pakistani who told a court he came to the UAE to look for a job was caught with half a kilogramme of heroin in his hotel room.
The man told Dubai Criminal Court he was given a package in August this year by a man in Pakistan. He told him someone will collect it from him at his hotel in Dubai.
Anti narcotics officers were tipped off about the tourist and arrested him in Naif.
Police found 90 capsules of heroin in a bin in his room. He had swallowed another capsule and was taken to Rashid hospital so it could be recovered safely.
The defendant denied a charge of smuggling heroin with the intent to distribute. He told the court he did not know there were drugs in the package and that he only came to the country to search for a job.
The next hearing will be on January 16.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
