Federal Public Prosecution film warns of risks dealing in illegal drugs
Government prosecutors have produced a short film highlighting the dangers of dealing in illegal drugs.
In the one-minute production, a motorist caught carrying a friend’s narcotics is jailed for 10 years.
The film was made by the UAE’s Department of Federal Public Prosecution as a warning to people using, transporting or dealing in drugs.
It opens with police officers finding a stash of white powder at the scene of a car crash and arresting the driver.
The film then flashes back to when the motorist agrees to deliver the drugs for a friend.
Later, in court, the man is seen explaining to a judge that the drugs were not his and that he was simply delivering the powder to help out an acquaintance.
“I just wanted to do him a favour without anything in return,” he tells the court.
As the film continues, the defendant is challenged over his version of the story. The judge finds him guilty after his friend denies ever giving him the drugs.
Sentencing the man to 10 years in prison and a Dh50,000 fine, the film ends with the message: “Beware of bad companions.”
In a statement accompanying the video, the Ministry of Justice said the film highlighted “the dangers of contact with bad companions and the legal consequences of possession of narcotic substances”.
The penalty for possession of drugs in the UAE ranges from 10 to 15 years, with fines of between Dh50,000 and Dh200,000.
“Should the crime be perpetrated for the purpose of trafficking, such crime shall be punishable by the death penalty,” the ministry says.