Smuggler imports, re-exports and re-imports same drug containers back to Dubai - Compiled By Exim Rite
MSM, a 45-year-old Pakistani businessman, is accused of smuggling drugs for sale, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.
The accused denied smuggling drugs into UAE and said that he was transporting them to Malaysia. He also denied any promotional purpose.
The prosecution accused MSM of possessing 149,460 tablets of the drug Tramadol for the purpose of sale.
The large quantity of the drug was found in two containers in Jebel Ali Port by anti-drug officers. Another banned substance and some foodstuffs were al
o found.
The officers closed the containers and kept them under watch. Only a week later, a clearing company processed papers for re-exporting the containers to Malaysia. The containers were watched by the police for about two weeks before being shipped to Malaysia.
International anti-drug authorities were notified about the containers. A month and a half later, the containers were returned from Malaysia.
Three days after arrival, police confiscated the shipment and arrested the accused who confessed to owning the containers.
The consignment arrived in the port under the category of import for re-export that allows the importer to sell the cargo in the country and but he has the right to export them if he cannot find buyers in the UAE.
The first time the cargo arrived in the country was in 2011 and in both cases of import and export, the importer should have declared the cargo but he did not.
“Probably the owner of the consignment noticed that anti-drugs officers opened the consignment and found out the banned drug inside, so he re-exported them to Malaysia. What raised the suspicion of the anti-narcotic officers about the intentions of the importer was the wax used by UAE officers to seal the containers was not broken after they reached Malaysia. So the importer wanted the drug to enter Dubai through another customs clearance,” a police officer testified.
Corporal Abbas Mohammed testified that the accused admitted re-exporting the containers to Malaysia. However, he claimed that the recipient in Malaysia had refused to receive the consignments so they were returned to Dubai.
MSM confessed to transporting Tramadol but denied intention to smuggle the drug into the country or to promote its sale in UAE.
The court will reconvene on November 26 to hear the defence.
Source : Emirates
