DUBAI // Three men were caught at Dubai airport with more than 5kg of cocaine, a court heard on Monday.
Brazilian MB, 45, was caught with the majority of the 5.2kg haul as he passed through customs but he told customs officers that the drug capsules were given to him by Nigerian men on a flight from Brazil on November 2 last year.
The Brazilian pointed out Nigerians RA, 31, AK, 41, and another unidentified man while they were in transit at the airport and the three were also arrested.
“A Nigerian man gave me the capsules while on a flight from Brazil. He told me that he will take them from me once I pass through customs.” MB told prosecutors.
RA and AK were found to be in possession of about 20g of cocaine each, which they both said was for personal use, while the third man had no drugs and said he had no knowledge of the drugs or the other defendants, so he was released.
The Nigerians confirmed the Brazilian’s story and told prosecutors that the drugs was being transported to Kenya. There was no mention of why the Brazilian was willing to accept the drugs.
At Dubai Criminal Court, the Brazilian and two Nigerians were charged with transporting drugs.
The Brazilian did not enter a plea because he does not speak Arabic or English.
RA told the presiding judge that he had only one capsule for personal use, while AK argued that he had nothing to do with the case, even though he had 20.25 grams of cocaine in his possession.
A translator was ordered to be brought in for MB and the next hearing is on June 11.
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Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
