Police at the Dubai International Airport have arrested a tourist who hid a 2.6kg of marijuana hidden inside containers of spices.

The Court of First Instance in Dubai on Monday heard that the 24-year-old Cameroonian visitor was caught in January 2020 after officers noticed an abnormal thickness inside his bag.

“I stopped the defendant, asked him what was inside the bag. He claimed that it had food supplies and spices. I searched the bag and found 12 plastic rolls full of marijuana,” said the Emirati employee.

According to an officer at the Anti-Narcotics Department of Dubai Police, the defendant admitted that he had brought the drugs from Cameroon and that a Nigerian worker would have come to receive it.

“He said that a woman in Cameroon asked him to deliver the bag to her brother in Dubai who had sponsored a residence visa for him. He was in touch with him on WhatsApp,” the officer said on record.

The 29-year-old Nigerian co-defendant was also arrested as he came to the airport to receive the first defendant.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the Cameroonian defendant with smuggling and possessing 2.6kg of marijuana, while the Nigerian defendant has been charged with criminal abetting.

The next hearing will be on September 21 and the defendants will remain in police custody.