The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Amir Al Sunni, Staff Reporter

The Fujairah appellate court adjourned to next June, for a final verdict, the case of 13 Iranians charged with sneaking into the UAE.

The suspects claimed the strong wind washed their boat into the territorial waters of the UAE.

They told the court during their journey they faced strong winds which prevented them from taking control of their boats, which drifted into the waters of the UAE against their will.

They denied the charges of owning petroleum substances for the purpose of trafficking, claiming they carried them to fuel their boats.

Recently, the Dubai Criminal Court ruled that  three narcotic drugs deliverymen who worked under directives from a ring leader residing abroad will spend 10 years behind bars.

An Asian blacksmith, 25, arrived with 46 capsules containing 378.84 grammes of meth and 126 capsules containing 1018.2 grammes of heroin in his stomach on Jul.16 last year, according to records at Al Muraqqabat Police Station.

He handed them to two compatriot men – a salesman, 22, and storekeeper, 30 – to gradually distribute them as per the directives of a mastermind residing abroad. They were caught and referred to the Criminal Court on Feb.24.

The storekeeper who reportedly buried some of the drugs in a sandy area rebuffed the charges. The court has found them guilty and sentenced each one to ten years in jail and a Dhs50,000 fine to be followed by deportation. On the record, an Emirati lieutenant said the Antinarcotics Department learnt that a man would hand heroin to a police source. The mastermind contacted the source and told him to head to a place near a fuel station in Abu Hail.

The mastermind described the man (the salesman) who would hand him the heroin. A police team escorted the source to the scene. They spotted the salesman. He was with the storekeeper. They looked scared. Cops nabbed them. The lieutenant said, “We seized 25 capsules from the salesman’s trousers’ pocket. At his apartment in Hor Al Anz, he opened a drawer and removed a plastic bag containing 103 heroin-like capsules and another containing 50 meth-like capsules.