Drug-smuggling Emirates’ steward jailed
A member of Emirates’ cabin crew has been jailed after he smuggled a kilo of heroin on-board a Manchester-bound flight from Dubai.
Zohaab Sadique stuffed the £100,000 of drugs behind his own chair while working in the business class cabin.
The 30-year-old from Oldham was caught when Border Force swooped and searched the bus which was transferring the cabin crew from the plane to the terminal.
CCTV from the vehicle caught Sadique trying to hide the bag containing the drugs from officers, which was found by sniffer dogs.
Sadique, of Broadway, Chadderton, pleaded guilty to a charge of importing class A drugs, and was jailed for eight years at Manchester Crown Court.
After the hearing, Jon Hughes, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said: "Zohaab Sadique attempted to use his privileged access and knowledge of the systems in place at the airport for criminal purposes. Corrupt insiders like him are very dangerous people, and provide an important service to the organised criminal networks involved in smuggling drugs and other illicit commodities into the UK. ‘This is why tackling corruption at the border is such a priority for us."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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