Man 'smuggled heroin in stomach'

A Pakistani man who swallowed 97 capsules containing heroin arrived at Dubai International Airport looking anxious and suffering from stomach pain, a court hears.

DUBAI // A Pakistani man who swallowed 97 capsules containing heroin arrived at Dubai International Airport looking anxious and suffering from stomach pain, a court was told yesterday. The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard that customs inspectors became suspicious because the man "walked funny" and looked anxious. The defendant, KH, 28, swallowed the capsules, containing 914 grams of heroin, in Karachi, Pakistan, before boarding a flight for Dubai. He arrived at 1.30am on March 22.

MA, 25, an Emirati customs inspector, told the court: "I asked my colleague to search the defendant's luggage. His suitcase was empty, which indicated he was not planning to stay long. "He was very anxious and wanted to leave, which made us suspicious so we decided to X-ray his abdomen." MA added that the defendant's stomach was full of "egg-shaped" capsules. He said inspectors asked the man to touch his toes but he could not because his stomach was so full.

"There was no room for anything else. We gave him milk and grapes to eat and drink to allow the capsules to pass through his body," MA said. Inspectors asked the man to open 10 of the capsules and they were found to contain a brownish powder that looked like heroin, he said. KH denied any knowledge of what was inside the capsules. He said he was told to meet a Pakistani man in Dubai and to give him the capsules.

MA said the recent installation of X-ray machines at the airport had surprised many would-be drug smugglers. "In the past, if we suspected anyone of having swallowed drug-filled capsules we would refer them to Rashid Hospital," he said. "Now, the new X-ray machines allow us to detect any foreign objects inside the stomachs of anyone we suspect of carrying drugs." The case was adjourned to Sept 21.

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