A tourist appeared before Dubai Criminal Court on Monday accused of trying to smuggle 4.5 litres of liquid cocaine into the country.
The man, 22, from Hong Kong, landed in Dubai on April 11 and was arrested by customs officers on suspicion of carrying liquid cocaine in his luggage.
At the airport, an X-ray showed three dark-coloured bottles inside his luggage which alerted the customs officers.
The luggage was searched thoroughly by hand and officers found the bottles containing a red liquid.
Customs officers said the man refused to reveal what the liquid was when he was asked.
Liquid cocaine is a novel method for smuggling drugs through customs.
Cocaine powder can be dissolved and later converted back to powder. The liquid's radiological properties are different than those of powder making it harder to detect.
Lab tests revealed the liquid was cocaine which prosecutors believe the man intended to sell in the emirate.
He denied the charges of possessing drugs to sell.
The court case is expected to be concluded on October 12.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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