Woman caught for smuggling 1,600 tramadol pills at Abu Dhabi airport

A female passenger was caught carrying 1,600 tramadol pills in her baggage, while trying to smuggle them into the UAE. She claims the "prescription-only" drugs were for personal use.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the Egyptian woman was returning from holiday when she was stopped at the Abu Dhabi International Airport after authorities discovered that she had a huge amount of tramadol in her bag.
 
Official court documents showed that the woman was arrested a few months ago at the airport after security officers discovered the tramadol pills.
 
Prosecutors said that during a routine search, custom inspectors found packets of tramadol medicines containing 1,600 pills in a bag.
 
The woman had just arrived on a flight from Cairo. A medical test showed that she also consumed tramadol.
 
Prosecutors charged her with consuming tramadol, and trying to smuggle the narcotic pills with an intention of promoting them in the UAE.
 
The woman denied the charges when she appeared in court.
 
"I plead not guilty to all the charges," said the woman. "The tramadol pills I was carrying were for my own use because I am ill. It wasn't for any other purpose."
 
She also produced a doctor's prescription from a hospital in her home country allowing her to use the tramadol because she suffered from a psychotropic illness.
 
And when the judge asked her if her alleged illness required that huge amount of tramadol she was carrying as it wasn't indicated in the medical letter she presented, the woman didn't have a satisfactory answer to it.
 
The judge also asked her why she didn't seek treatment for illness in a UAE hospital since she was a resident here. The woman replied that she could only be able to be treated back home.  
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ismail Sebugwaawo

ismail@khaleejtimes.com