Dubai arrests 2 over drug trafficking
DUBAI: Two drug traffickers were arrested and prosecuted by Dubai courts for using heroin and marijuana.
One drug trafficker was an Asian visitor who smuggled 1,258g of heroin into the country.
The 31-year-old defendant was detected by anti-narcotics teams and placed under arrest.
Ater police raided his house, 155 transparent capsules of heroin were seized. The defendant confessed to using the drugs and was referred to the criminal court for legal punishment.
In another case, a 25-year-old African salesman was under prosecution for trafficking 7.08g of marijuana. The defendant was arrested in possession of 8 marijuana rolls, and admited that he had them for his personal use.
In December, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of First Instance charged a 26-year-old Briton with possessing and selling drugs through a Telegram account.
The details of the case date back to June, 2020, when Dubai Police got a tipoff that a man was selling cocaine through a Telegram account he had created using a British phone number.
Dubai Police decided to catch the defendant red-handed. A police officer posing as a customer bought drug from the defendant in return for Dhs4,500.
The currency notes used in the transaction were already marked by the police.
“When we met him, he was confused and looking around before handing over the drugs,” said a 30-year-old Emirati police officer.
“I was with the police source during the meeting that happened in a public place in Al Barsha area,” added the officer.
Ater handing the drugs to the undercover policeman, the man was arrested. During prosecution questioning, the accused denied selling drugs.
“I bought the drug through Whatsapp a day before the arrest but the next day the seller asked me to return it and I did,” the defendant told investigators. It was then that I got arrested. “But I can’t remember the details because I was under the influence of alcohol,” he added.
The British man told judges that he was returning the drug and not selling it to a police source.