Heroin haul found in DVD players

ABU DHABI // Police in Abu Dhabi say an Afghan man tried to smuggle 8kg of heroin into the country hidden inside 51 electronic devices, including DVD and video players. Sultan Sawayeh Darmaki, head of the department's counter-narcotics division, said the 22-year-old man came into the country on a tourist visa and intended to sell the drugs. Four kilograms were found in Abu Dhabi and four in a Dubai hotel room occupied by the man, who was arrested after he tried to sell the heroin to an undercover officer in Sharjah.

Police said the drugs would have been broken down into smaller amounts for sale. The Afghan man, who has admitted to the charges, could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted. In June, four men were sentenced to death in what court officials called Abu Dhabi's largest heroin case. Also last month, according to a press release from Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, another man charged with drug trafficking in a separate case was sentenced to death.

mswan@thenational.ae