A 21-year-old Christchurch woman is in a United Arab Emirates jail after allegedly being found with a small amount of marijuana at Dubai Airport on Thursday.
Mariam Shafeek, an Egyptian student, was arrested while on her way back to New Zealand from visiting relatives in Cairo.
She reportedlyhad 0.2g of the marijuana in her possession.
Ms Shafeek's father, who had been travelling with her, secured a lawyer before continuing his journey back to Christchurch.
Ms Shafeek's mother, Seham Ayad, said her daughter spoke only "broken Arabic" and could not read the language.
"She is completely blinded there," she told The Press newspaper said.
She had been forced to sign documents without knowing their content after giving evidential blood and urine tests which had both returned negative for the drug.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular duty officer Peter Hyde said the ministry was aware of the case and the consulate in Dubai was following it up.
