A woman and her son, who were caught at the Dubai airport trying to smuggle more than 1kg of heroin, were each sentenced to 10 years in jail on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Pakistani housewife and her son, 23, were caught at the Dubai International Airport on April 8 with 1.2kg of heroin in one of their bags. The mother had then told the customs officers that the bag contained just clothes.

Both had pleaded not guilty to the charge before the court, claiming they were not aware there were drugs in the bag. The son broke down in court as he claimed that the man, who issued the travel papers for them, was behind implicating them with the drugs.

The Court of First Instance convicted both of them of a drug smuggling charge and ordered their deportation after serving their jail terms and paying a Dh50,000 fine each.

The court also ordered the confiscation of the seized drugs.

According to the public prosecution records, during interrogation by the airport officers, the mother admitted an Afghan national handed her the drugs to deliver it to someone in Dubai and that she was paid for it.

A female customs inspection officer said the woman's bag raised their suspicions as she arrived after midnight. "We kept a close watch on her and after she claimed her baggage and reached the inspection point, we asked her whether that bag belonged to her.

"She replied that the bag was hers and it contained their clothes. However, I opened the bag and searched it and found its sides were thick. I looked in the sides and found there were plastic bags filled with white powder."

The traveler told the officer that an Afghan man bought the air tickets for them and paid her Dh800, requesting her to transport the drugs to a man here.

Both defendants' urine samples tested negative for drugs, as per a report from the general directorate of criminal evidence and criminology.

They have the right to appeal the court order within 15 days.

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