DUBAI // Prosecutors have lost their appeal against the acquittal of an Australian tourist who was found by airport customs officials to have clothes soaked in liquid cocaine.
C A, 37, was arrested on February 17 at Dubai International Airport with three kilograms of cocaine in his suitcase.
He was acquitted in June by the Dubai Criminal Court after he claimed he did not know the drugs were in the bag.
Customs inspector R A, 23, testified that C A arrived at the airport on a flight from Argentina.
“We had suspicions about him and the bag he was carrying,” said R A.
“I had his bag scanned through X-ray and found that nine pieces of his clothes had been soaked with drugs.
“When we asked him about the clothes, he said that he knew nothing about them and that his friend in Argentina had given him the bag to deliver to his girlfriend in Australia.”
CA was referred to Dubai Police’s Anti-Narcotics unit, where the drugs were weighed at 3.4kg.
He denied the charges of smuggling cocaine.
“I didn’t know the clothes had drugs in them,” he told the Criminal Court.
The exact reasons for his acquittal were not mentioned in court.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal upheld the Criminal Court’s original verdict.
salamir@thenational.ae