Jailed abroad: UAE jails Pakistani for smuggling heroin

DUBAI: A Dubai court jailed a Pakistani for 15 years for smuggling heroin in bags containing copies of the Holy Quran, prayer mats and other religious paraphernalia, a report said Wednesday. The 30-year-old man, identified only by his initials MT, was convicted of possessing 24kgs of heroin that was stashed in five bags with hidden compartments, the Gulf News daily said. “When we opened the bags, we found prayer mats, prayer beads and copies of the Holy Quran along with food and the drugs,” a Dubai International Airport customs inspector was quoted as saying. The defendant was fined $54,500 and will be deported after serving his sentence, the report said. He has 15 days to appeal the ruling by the Dubai court of first instance.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2014.