Man faces court over airport heroin bid
By Xu Fang |
August 12, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A PAKISTANI man went on trial in Shanghai yesterday on a charge of swallowing 587 grams of heroin in a bid to smuggle the drugs into China.
Muhammad Haris, 29, pleaded guilty before Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
He said he was forced by a man named Ali to bring the drugs from Pakistan to Shanghai.
He claimed he did not know he was carrying heroin.
Haris, a tailor, took a flight from Pakistan to Dubai and then to Pudong International Airport on March 25.
Customs officers swooped on the man after X-ray images showed irregular objects in his body, prosecutors said.
Later in a hospital, Haris excreted 60 packages wrapped in adhesive tape.
The packages were examined at the Shanghai Drug Testing Center and found to contain 587 grams of heroin, the court heard.
Haris told the court that Ali forced him to swallow the packages and carry them to Shanghai because he owed about US$300 to him.
Ali had told Haris "the things were safe" and promised to pay him US$1,000 and cancel the debt.
"I didn't know they were drugs," Haris told the court.
"He threatened to smash up my tailor's store."
Haris was suspicious because he was asked to make a detour to Shanghai and said he told Customs officers as soon as he arrived in Pudong.
Prosecutors dismissed this argument. They said in a previous confession, Haris admitted he agreed to smuggle the heroin for the high payment.
Prosecutors said the drugs stayed in Haris' body for 50 hours.
They suggested a sentence from 15 years to life imprisonment for Haris.
A court verdict is pending.
Muhammad Haris, 29, pleaded guilty before Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
He said he was forced by a man named Ali to bring the drugs from Pakistan to Shanghai.
He claimed he did not know he was carrying heroin.
Haris, a tailor, took a flight from Pakistan to Dubai and then to Pudong International Airport on March 25.
Customs officers swooped on the man after X-ray images showed irregular objects in his body, prosecutors said.
Later in a hospital, Haris excreted 60 packages wrapped in adhesive tape.
The packages were examined at the Shanghai Drug Testing Center and found to contain 587 grams of heroin, the court heard.
Haris told the court that Ali forced him to swallow the packages and carry them to Shanghai because he owed about US$300 to him.
Ali had told Haris "the things were safe" and promised to pay him US$1,000 and cancel the debt.
"I didn't know they were drugs," Haris told the court.
"He threatened to smash up my tailor's store."
Haris was suspicious because he was asked to make a detour to Shanghai and said he told Customs officers as soon as he arrived in Pudong.
Prosecutors dismissed this argument. They said in a previous confession, Haris admitted he agreed to smuggle the heroin for the high payment.
Prosecutors said the drugs stayed in Haris' body for 50 hours.
They suggested a sentence from 15 years to life imprisonment for Haris.
A court verdict is pending.
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