ABU DHABI // Police charged a man yesterday with practising wizardry and attempting to smuggle black magic devices and spells into the country.
B?L, 47, whose nationality was not given, was arrested at Abu Dhabi International Airport as he was entering on a work visa.
“The airport staff suspected the passenger, so they inspected his luggage and found books that contained spells, mostly in unknown languages, and some suspicious tools which seem to be used for black magic,” said Col Rashid Bursheed, the head of the organised crime section at the Criminal Investigations Department.
Police said the alleged smuggler claimed the substances included saffron water to “treat” victims of black magic and to undo spells.
“He said he had been working in this profession for the past 30 years, since he was gaining huge sums of money and [also] to help the needy,” Col Bursheed said. “He said it was his first time to set foot in the UAE, claiming that he forgot the equipment was in his luggage because he was in a hurry to travel.”
Col Bursheed asked the public to report anyone claiming to practise black magic to the authorities.
hdajani@thenational.ae