A 31-year-old Malian woman was stopped at Dubai International Airport in August after a scanner detected two pieces of marijuana, weighing 3.8 kilograms, in her luggage as she arrived in the country.[1][2] An airport customs officer testified that she was taken into custody once the scan revealed the banned substance, and that she claimed the seized material did not belong to her.[1][2]

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted her of smuggling and possessing drugs and sentenced her to 10 years in jail and a Dh100,000 fine, although she had pleaded not guilty.[1][2] In court she wept and said someone had given her the substance at the airport, telling her his sister would collect it from her, and that she took no money and did not know it was banned.[1][2] Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi ordered that she be deported after serving her sentence; the ruling remained subject to appeal within 15 days.[1][2]