Worker who hid drugs in car jailed for six months

Legal and Court Correspondent

Aworker has been jailed for six months for possessing nearly one kilogram of methamphetamine for promotional purposes after drug enforcement officers seized them from his car.

Acting on an informant’s tip off, drug enforcement officers arrested the 21-yearold Pakistani worker in a sting operation in May, in which he was found hiding the drugs in his car.

The Dubai Court of First Instance found the defendant guilty and also ordered him to pay a Dh50,000 fine.

He will be deported after completing his punishment. The accused pleaded not guilty and denied the charge of promoting the drugs.

A lieutenant with the anti-narcotics police unit testified that an informant had brought it to their attention that the defendant possessed and consumed drugs at his residence in Ras Al Khor area.

“According to the tip-off, the accused has also possessed some methamphetamine that he intended to distribute. We searched his vehicle and found a plastic box containing methamphetamine, hidden in the back pocket of the seat. The accused was [immediately] taken into custody and then we searched his residence but didn’t find any banned substances there. During questioning, the defendant alleged that his compatriot provided him with the methamphetamine and asked him to deliver them to another person, for Dh1,000. He claimed that he had done the same job three times before his arrest,” the lieutenant said.