DUBAI // A Swedish tourist who said he smuggled cocaine in a cast so he could get some of it for himself was on Tuesday morning sentenced to 10 years in jail.
AA, 49, was arrested carrying 6.2kg of the drug wrapped around his leg as a cast.
At Dubai Criminal Court, he said he was promised some of it for himself and confessed to smuggling.
AHA, a 33-year-old Emirati policeman, said that it was about 11pm on March 13 when the defendant was spotted acting suspiciously at Dubai airport’s Terminal 3.
When he was approached he claimed that his leg was broken, hence the cast, the officer said.
“He was arrested and his arresting officer told me that he offered him US$100 (Dh367) to let him go,” said AHA.
The policeman said in his testimony that the defendant confessed to carrying the drugs from Brazil and he was planning on leaving them in a toilet at the airport.
The tourist was also fined Dh50,000 and will be deported after completing his jail term.
However, the sentence remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
salamir@thenational.ae
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Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
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