Lack of awareness of the law doesn’t exempt anyone from penalty, police say
Sharjah: The Sharjah Airport Security Administration has advised travellers not to accept baggage or packets from strangers while flying.
Brigadier Abdul Salam Abdul Rahman Bin Faris, Director of Ports and Airports Police of the Sharjah Police, urged all travellers to strictly adhere to airport security and safety guidelines.
“Do not carry any prohibited materials while boarding the plane. Travellers are advised not to help strangers to carry their baggage. Passengers must cooperate with airport and security officials at any point of time during their travel,” he said.
The advice came after an Arab passenger, identified as S.A., was arrested as he arrived at Sharjah International Airport for allegedly carrying narcotic substances.
The passenger came to the UAE on a visit visa after he got a job. When his baggage was scanned, a suspicious packet was detected inside. The police inspector in charge asked the passenger to open his baggage. When asked about the content of the packet, he said it was medicines sent to a woman, who lived in the UAE with her family. The passenger did not carry a medical prescription. He said a man was waiting outside the airport to take delivery of the medicines.
The passenger told the police that his relatives, friends and neighbours had come to his home to wish him good luck in his new career and one of them asked him to take some medicines to his sick sister in the UAE. The passenger agreed and carried the packet of “medicines”.
The police arrested the passenger as well as the man who had come to receive the packet. The police found that the packet contained prohibited drugs.
The police officers understood the passenger was innocent but could do nothing and pressed charges against him. “Lack of awareness of the law doesn’t exempt anyone from prosecution,” an officer said.
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