Dubai Customs foils bid to smuggle 2.5kg of heroin hidden in passengers’ guts

Dubai Customs inspectors at Dubai Int’l Airport foiled 3 separate attempts of smuggling drugs stuffed in capsules hidden inside guts of 3 passengers from different nationalities. The passengers swallowed up the capsules before arriving at Dubai in an attempt to evade customs inspectors.

Mr. Ali AL Mugahwi, Director of Passenger Operations Department at Dubai Customs uncovered the details of the three seizures when he stated that the total confiscated quantity of the heroin estimated at more than 2.5kg was in a total 219 capsules, 83 of which were detected with an Asian passenger and 86 capsules were found with another Asian passenger while the other 50 capsules were seized from an African female passenger. 

Mr. AL Mugahwi explained that a female customs inspector at Dubai Intl Airport-Terminal 2 suspected an Asian passenger coming to Dubai on a tourist visa. During the routine baggage search procedures, the inspector noticed his frisky behaviors and subsequently, he was examined by the Body Scan machine which detected some murky items inside his guts. Immediately, and as per the coordination between the General Department of Anti-Narcotics Department and Dubai Customs, the detained suspect was transferred to the Office in order to take the necessary actions against him. Further examination confirmed that the suspect was hiding inside his guts 83 capsules stuffed with heroin and weighing 835 grams.  

Details of the second seizure started when an inspector at the Passenger Operations Department suspected an Asian passenger coming to Dubai via Airport Terminal 2 as well. Initially, nothing suspicious was found during the manual search of the handbag; however, due to the inspector’s high alerted sense of security, the passenger was put to the Body Scan machine which found strange items inside his guts. When asked about the nature of these items, he admitted to swallowing drug-stuffed capsules. On investigating the passenger by the Investigation team at the Passenger Operation Department, the passenger began to feel stomachache and his body disposed some of the capsules suspected to be heroin. Thus, the passenger was referred to the related authority at Dubai Police General Department of the Anti-Narcotics to take the necessary action. A total of 86 capsules were disposed at the hospital with a total weight of 879 grams of heroin narcotics.

As for the third attempt which took place at Dubai Intl Airport Terminal 3, an inspector suspected an African female passenger coming from an African country although at first examining her luggage through the x-ray machine did not manage to find any prohibited items; nor could the manual examination of the luggage. Nevertheless, when she was examined through the Body Scan machine, the detector showed strange substances inside her body believed to be illegal narcotics. Soon after, the detected bodies turned out to be 50 capsules of pure narc-heroin.  

As per the mutual cooperation and coordination between Dubai Customs and the Anti-Narcotics Department, the three captured passengers “smugglers” along with the contrabands and the seizure investigation reports were transferred to the Anti-Narcotics office at Dubai Int’l Airport. Further investigations revealed that the three suspects were intending to hand over the narcotic to their accomplices.   

Mr. Al Mugahwi reiterated that in line with the responsibilities of Dubai Customs and its key roles, being at the frontline of the community against any infiltration attempts of potential risky materials which might threaten individuals’ health and intellectual skills and productivity, besides, playing its role in facilitating smooth movement of legitimate trade, the Department always seeks to continuously improve its staff and inspectors’ skills by introducing training courses on body language and enhancement of customs loyalty and alertness. Moreover, Dubai Customs equips them with most advanced technical inspection and checkup technologies, which have greatly contributed to the improvement of the inspectors’ experience in handling such attempts and uncovering the different twisted smuggling techniques.