Drug mule caught after carpark collapse, court told

The man avoided airport security but passed out in the carpark of Dubai International Airport; doctors later found 57 capsules in his stomach containing almost a kilo of methamphetamine.

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DUBAI // A British drugs mule who swallowed packages containing almost a kilogram of methamphetamine managed to avoid detection by customs officials at Dubai International Airport but was arrested after passing out in the airport car park, a court heard yesterday.

TN, 40, appeared at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday and denied charges of trafficking and possession of drugs.

He faces up to life imprisonment if convicted by Judge Hamad Abdel Latif.

TN was found by a passerby, unconscious and lying on the ground in car park A, in the arrivals section at the airport on July 3, according to prosecution records.

Airport police were called and contacted the emergency medical services.

"At 4am we received a call from operations telling us about a person found unconscious. After we arrived, he seemed to be in a very bad state of health," an airport police lieutenant told prosecutors.

TN was rushed by ambulance to Dubai Hospital, where X-rays revealed suspicious articles in his stomach.

Dubai Police drugs officers were called and TN was given laxatives by doctors. According to prosecutors, officials recovered 57 capsules containing 986.7 grams of pure methamphetamine.

The defendant confessed to trafficking and possession of the drugs, prosecutors said.

The court will issue its verdict on January 27.