Man 'tries to smuggle one tonne of drugs hidden in animal guts'

Customs inspectors found more than 1,000kg of amphetamines hidden in barrels of animal offal

A man tried to smuggled a tonne of amphetamines hidden inside barrels of animal guts into the country, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Syrian was arrested on April 25 this year while finalising for a shipment of animal intestines but the customs office stopped him after noticing information missing from the documents.

A customs inspector said they found a large number of plastic bags hidden among the animal offal after kicking the barrels.

Prosecutors said more than five million tablets of the drugs weighing 1,210kg were found inside the plastic bags.
After being arrested the man was referred to Dubai Police's anti-narcotics department for questioning where he told investigators that his brother in Turkey asked for his assistance to clear the shipment with customs.

"He said that his brother only told him it contained animal parts and wired him $4,400 for customs fees," said a 41-year-old Dubai Police drug control captain.
The man told police a man in Egypt wired him the money and he was told to deliver the shipment to another man in Dubai and was promised Dh5,000 in return.
"He said the defendant told them he was surprised when inspectors found drugs inside the barrels, and he provided police with the names of two men he was directed to call in order to hand the shipment. We checked both names and found that they are out of the country," said the captain.
The defendant denied a charge of importing drugs to sell.
The next hearing will be held on September 10.