13,000 tablets found on woman passenger

A 65-year-old Pakistani woman allegedly tried to smuggle into the UAE 13,180 tablets of a restricted medicine against Pakistani rupees 20,000, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

On November 9, at around 8.30am, HM arrived at Dubai International Airport.

Checking her luggage via x-ray, security officer Aysha Sultan suspected her bag which contained a large quantity of medicine.

The officer asked the passenger if she possessed anything that she wants to reveal.

As the passenger answered negatively, the bag was manually checked and a large quantity of the medicine Xanax Alprazolam IMG, which is restricted by the UAE Ministry of Health, was found. The tablets were hidden in a professional way wrapped in carbon paper and scotch tape.

When the officer was picking up the tablets, the passenger was returning them back into the luggage bag.

Asking her about the medicine, the passenger looked very worried and confused.

While searching her body, she was again asked by the officer about the medicine.

The passenger said a compatriot man back home had asked her to carry the bag to Dubai and to hand it over to a person in a hotel in Naif area. The man promised to pay her Pakistan Rs20,000.

She admitted that she was accompanied by another woman, who could not fly on the same flight as she was stranded at the airport.

“She asked me to carry her bag which she was supposed to carry,” the accused told investigators.

The accused confessed and asked the jury for mercy, saying it was a mistake.

The court will give its sentence on February 8.

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