DUBAI // Dubai Customs arrested a passenger attempting to smuggle Dh6 million worth of cocaine from Ghana, an official said today.
“A passenger arriving from Addis Ababa was found to be in possession of 3 kilograms of cocaine, cleverly hidden in a suitcase,” said Ali al Meghawi, senior manager of the airport operations department at Dubai Customs.
“This ... is the most expensive of all the narcotic seizures caught this year at Dubai International Airport."
The unidentified passenger’s itinerary originated in Accra, Ghana, and headed to Dubai via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was to end in an unidentified Asian country, according to Dubai Customs.
An inspection team from Dubai Customs at Terminal One flagged the passenger after noticing abnormal behavior, Mr al Meghawi said.
“The team put the suspect under customs screening and followed him until he arrived at the inspection area," he said. "There he claimed that his bag contained nothing other than personal clothes, but an X-ray imaging system showed anomalies in the bottom area.
“Officers manually searched the bag and found 3kg of a white-colored substance wrapped with dark-blue plastic tape and carefully hidden inside a pocket at the bottom of the bag, which was identified later as the narcotic cocaine."
During investigation, the man confessed that the substance was pure cocaine and that he was to transport it via Dubai and deliver it to a man living in an Asian country for US$3,000.
The man was referred to the Department of Drug Control at Dubai International Airport for legal action.
