ABU DHABI // An Iraqi man charged with taking drugs and staying in the country illegally said he was in the UAE because he received death threats from a sectarian group in Baghdad, a court heard today.
The man, FA, further told the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance that he did not realise he had consumed drugs – he had simply eaten Moroccan sweets given to him by a fellow gym-goer, he said. He was arrested at Khalifa Hospital after suffering a painful stomach ache.
He told the court he was not aware the sweets contained hashish.
"It was delicious and I asked her if it was a halwa with date and she told me: 'No, it is a Moroccan halwa'," FA told the court today. He said he did not know Moroccans made sweets with drugs.
He pleaded guilty to staying in the country illegally but he said he was obliged to for fear of death.
"I have stayed illegally because of the sectarian situation, I received death threats in Baghdad before I left," FA said.
hhassan@thenational.ae
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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