A woman was found to have swallowed more than half a kilo of heroin in a bid to smuggle it into the UAE, Dubai Customs said.

The Passengers Operation Department at Dubai International Airport foiled the smuggling attempt and found that the Asian woman had 32 capsules of the drug, which weighed 530g, in her stomach.

Customs inspectors thought the woman was acting suspiciously as she waited for her luggage. They said she also looked concerned as she walked towards the customs inspection zone.

They searched the woman and made her have an X-ray, which showed up the drugs.

The woman was transferred to the Investigation Department at the Passengers Operation Department at the airport where she burst into tears.

Customs said that during interview, the woman admitted hiding 30 capsules of heroin inside her body and said that she intended to hand them over to somebody waiting for her outside the airport.

Working with the Anti-Narcotics General Department at Dubai Police, a team of customs inspectors and police officers then ambushed the woman’s partners in crime.

They released her so she could go and meet the two Asian contacts at departures, where they were apprehended by the anti-narcotics officers.

The female passenger was admitted to a hospital and put under observation.

Ali Al Mugahwi, director of the Passengers Operation Department at Dubai Customs, said: “Despite the subtle way the passenger used to hide the drugs inside her stomach, Customs inspectors managed to uncover this attempt thanks to their expertise and good knowledge of body language and different smuggling techniques as well as their training courses.”