RAS AL KHAIMAH // Three Bangladeshis have been arrested after allegedly trying to bribe an airport employee to avoid iris scans at Ras al Khaimah International Airport. The suspects, who were also charged with illegal entry into the UAE, had previously been deported from the country after overstaying their visas and were banned from re-entering the country. According to police, the three men's old passports contained stickers that would have prevented them from entering the country, but they had all obtained new ones in their home country.
Lt Col Adnan al Zaabi, who heads the force's preventive security section, said officers were informed about the plan by a female immigration supervisor. The woman, who was manning the iris scan equipment, had been contacted by a Bangladeshi man asking for her help to get three fellow nationals banned from the country into the UAE by avoiding the procedure. She had been promised Dh3,000 (US$815) in advance and another Dh3,000 after the men crossed the border.
Lt Col Zaabi said police had launched an operation based on the tip, arranging for the female supervisor to accept the money and keep in touch with the men until they arrived at the airport. The suspects were allowed to enter the country and dodge the iris scan during the weekend. They were arrested a few minutes later as they were leaving the airport. Lt Col Zaabi said the three men were "trying to find a loophole in the UAE immigration system" and that the informant was being held by police to help with their inquiries.
"It was [the] first time we learnt an airport supervisor could be offered money. We can't just neglect it, we're taking it seriously." The case has been referred to the Public Prosecution. ykakande@thenational.ae