Dubai Customs inspectors at Dubai International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 874.4 grams of heroin, concealed in the stomach of an Asian traveler coming into the country from an Asian country through Dubai International Airport Terminal 1.
Mr. Ali Al Maqhawi, Director of Airport Customs Operations at Dubai Customs, commended the highly experienced customs inspectors at the entry ports for foiling the smuggling operation. They first suspected a passenger as he entered the customs checking zones, appearing confused, anxious and nervous. Given their extensive expertise in reading and analyzing body language, supported by their intensive training, customs inspectors decided to closely monitor him. While a manual search found nothing, they asked him to go through the body scanner, where they noticed some murky substance inside his guts. When questioned, the passenger said that they were capsules containing a narcotic substance of which he knew nothing about. Later, it was found that there were a total of 92 capsules, amounting to 874.4 grams of the narcotic substance, heroin.
Al Maqhawi added that after questioning by inspectors from the Passengers Investigation Department, Airport Customs Operations at Dubai Customs, the passenger admitted that he received the narcotic substance from someone at the airport in his home country, and swallowed them. He was supposed to extract them after arriving in the UAE and deliver them to a Dubai-based man in return for money.
In line with the joint cooperation and coordination between Dubai Customs and Dubai Police, the passenger, the questionnaire, seized drugs and all other relevant information were transferred to the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police to proceed with all necessary legal actions.
Al Magahwi said that Dubai Customs seeks to continuously be armed with highly professional inspectors, who have wide expertise and knowledge of smuggling methods. Dubai Customs continuously works on improving its inspectors’ skills by introducing training courses on inspection techniques, drugs and prohibited material detection and body language, in an effort to help them acquire knowledge about human behaviour, motivation and spontaneous reactions. Moreover, Dubai Customs equips them with the most advanced technical inspection and detection technologies, which have greatly contributed to the realization of the Department’s vision, corporate values and responsibilities.
Dubai Customs’ Airport Operations Department has two key missions; first to facilitate the entry of passengers to Dubai’s three airport terminals which receive a total of approximately 54 million travelers per year. The Department further aims to protect the society against the risks of smuggling drugs or any other types of locally and internationally prohibited substances.
Dubai Customs also conducts training sessions for inspectors on drug types, means of smuggling, field monitoring and detection of forgery and counterfeiting to promote their sense of security and how to handle hazardous substances and explosives. It also offers training on manual search, interactive communication skills and civil communication with travelers, in addition to administrative courses on customs questionnaire drafting and excellent customer service.