EXCLUSIVE: New York student Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, sentenced to a YEAR in prison in Dubai on trumped-up charges, describes a ‘terrifying’ ordeal that involves moving between 30 ‘gross’ locations as she awaits her fate

A New York student who was sentenced to a year in prison in Dubai on trumped-up charges of “assault” after she punched an airport security guard has broken her silence for the first time since her release.

Elizabeth Polanco De Los Santos, 21, told DailyMail.com exclusively that she spent three months traveling between at least 30 “gross” sites and racked up $70,000 in hotel and legal bills while she waited for her case to be heard.

“I felt so hopeless and I didn’t know what to do, in a country I’ve never been to, with someone I don’t know,” she said.

“I was really stressed, I was on the edge all the time, some days I just sat in my room because I didn’t have the energy to go out and I couldn’t spend any more money.”

Los Santos was arrested on July 14 after a “violated” security screening at Dubai International Airport, where staff forced her to take off and remove a medically mandated waistband she was wearing after surgery.

When the Lehman College student tapped a security guard for help getting dressed, she was accused of “assaulting and insulting” the worker and banned from leaving the country, known for its draconian Islamic laws.

Los Santos had been hardened for a year in Al-Awir Central Prison, Dubai’s most notorious women’s prison, when her sentence was sensationally commuted on October 3, hours after it was handed down, and she was finally allowed to return home.

Los Santos had flown back from an operation in Turkey at the time and had only had a 10-hour layover in Dubai when she was detained on July 14.

She described how the humiliating search for the strip at the airport was just the start of her horrific ordeal.

‘I was locked in a room and two ladies even checked my hair. They were rough and touching my body even though I’m already naked with just my panties on,” she said.

‘I didn’t even know why they were checking me, I thought it was the compressor. They told me everything was fine when the incident happened and I could leave, but when I go to catch my flight, the lady at the airline counter says I can’t travel.”

Los Santos said her panicked family didn’t even know she would be traveling across the country.

‘They were in disbelief, just like me. My mother prayed for me every day, she was so angry with them,” she said.

“She sent them a letter asking to release me, but they didn’t care, they literally didn’t care that I was homeless.”

Los Santos was initially ordered to pay AED 10,000 ($2,722), which they hoped would be the end of it. But officials decided to try seeking prison sentences.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” she said. ‘They told me everything was fine. That was at 2am. I had to stay at the airport. I told the customs manager I was sorry, but he didn’t care.’

‘He said, ‘I promise you now that you will go to jail for six months.’ He was so angry. I felt so bad, my life was literally in his hands.’

Los Santos had to wait a month for the first of her many court hearings – where she claimed she would arrive and see the release of Emiratis, while tourists were detained.

During this time, the stress and physical exertion of constantly moving began to take its toll on her post-surgery body.

‘It took another month for me to heal, so it still hurt. “I got really swollen and had lumps all over my body, so after the surgery everything just got worse,” she said.

She eventually hired human rights lawyer Radha Stirling, who began publicizing her case.

But at some point, Los Santos received the shocking news that she had been sentenced to a year in prison.

Just as she was preparing for the prospect of a stint in the brutal Al Awis prison, news arrived via Stirling that her sentence was being commuted.

Although she was initially numb to the development, Los Santos explained, “I just didn’t think I would be safe until I was on the plane, until then I was afraid that they would come for me, even at the airport.” .

‘It was a fourteen-hour flight and I didn’t sleep the whole trip. I put on the pajamas, but I couldn’t sleep for 14 hours. When I arrived I was so happy and grateful for Radha. She is an angel of God.”

When she landed, the first thing she did was hug her mother.

“She was so happy to see me,” Los Santos said.

Los Santos previously described her return to the Big Apple as “like a dream” but has since revealed she is struggling to settle back into American life.

“It’s okay (to be back), not the best, but I can’t complain,” she said. ‘I just don’t feel the same. I didn’t come home to the same apartment, Dubai was a mess.’

Los Santos also said she had tried to keep a low profile out of shame.

“When I came back, I was hoping I could do it for a week, but everyone knew about it and I didn’t want to because I was ashamed,” she said.

But Los Santos is not alone in its ordeal.

TikTok influencer Tierra Young Allen was detained in Dubai for three months earlier this year for ‘yelling’ at a parking attendant.

Meanwhile, celebrity bodyguard Cornell Whitfield was recently sentenced to a year in prison in Dubai after he intervened to protect Grammy-nominated R&B star TreySongz from an attack.

The 40-year-old, who is rap star Lil Kim’s personal bodyguard and has closely protected a host of other stars, was doing ‘his job’ when he put himself in front of the singer who was confronted by a man as they left the luxurious FIVE Palm Jumeirah- hotel.

Los Santos has urged caution for anyone considering a trip to the city.

“Don’t go to Dubai, even if you are very calm and some of them are not causing trouble, you just don’t know about it,” she said.

“You could say something too loudly or someone could come up to you and it could escalate.

‘My advice is to skip Dubai, anything can happen and I just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else again.’