Brit property investor, 43, interrogated for three hours in Dubai jail after Emirates crew ‘falsely accused her of taking cocaine on plane’
Caren Harmon was en route to Johannesburg from London for a friend's engagement party
A BRITISH property investor claims she was arrested in Dubai after cabin crew on her Emirates flight accused her of taking cocaine on the plane.
Caren Harmon, 43, was en route from London to Johannesburg on May 9 when she says she was flagged to police at Dubai International Airport after being spotted "sniffing and touching her nose" on board.
The reports she was then detained for over three hours, as officers searched her baggage and forced her to give a blood test - an ordeal which caused her to miss her connecting flight.
Miss Harmon, who lives in West London, told the Mail: "The only explanation they gave me was that I was seen looking through my bag, sniffing my nose and touching my nose, which is quite normal on a long flight with air conditioning.
"They implied to the police that I had been taking cocaine, as if I would do something like that. I was terrified."
The British and South African national added she was not warned about what was happening - and even when her blood test came back negative, was threatened with jail for having prescription anti-anxiety medicine alprazolam on the flight.
most read in news
She said: "They said if you don’t have a prescription and have pills you can go to jail for up to six years.
"I was horrified and started freaking out. I thought I would go to jail over a sleeping pill. After everything else I had just been through.
After three-and-a-half hours, Miss Harmon said she was made to sign an untranslated Arabic document before she caught another flight free of charge.
She said: ";I upgraded myself to business class using my air miles for the next flight.
";I just couldn’t face being around people in the state I was in."
An Emirates spokeswoman confirmed to the Mail that a passenger on flight EK0010 from Gatwick to Dubai on May 9 was detained in Dubai.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368