Man gets life imprisonment for importing 15kg narcotics in Dubai, fined Dhs500,000

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a verdict issued by the court of first instance against an Asian man sentencing him to life imprisonment, imposing a fine of Dhs500,000, and confiscating the seized items.

Additionally, the court banned the convict from transferring or depositing funds to others, either personally or through an intermediary, without prior approval from the Central Bank of the UAE and in coordination with the Ministry of Interior.

The ban is to continue for a period of two years following the conclusion of the sentence. He will be deported from the country after serving the terms, the court ordered.

He was found guilty of importing 15 kilograms of narcotic and psychotropic substances from the United States and a European country with the intention of peddling.

The case dates back to January 2024, when a customs inspector detected multiple parcels received under the defendant's name from the United States and a European nation. The inspector reported finding plastic envelopes containing suspected narcotics, and accordingly the police were informed of the incident.

A police officer testified that seized items were transferred to the Dubai Police forensic laboratory, which confirmed that the three parcels contained 15 kilograms of narcotic substances listed in Schedule 1 of the Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law, as amended by Federal Decree-Law.

The police officer further explained that the investigative team had established an ambush to arrest the accused while receiving the parcels.

A law enforcement officer communicated with the accused, presenting themselves as an agent of a delivery company with parcels to deliver. The accused requested that the parcels be delivered to his residence in Dubai International City, where he was arrested red-handed in possession of narcotics shipment. During the course of the investigation, the accused admitted to having ordered the shipments from multiple countries for the purpose of peddling. Furthermore, he admitted to previous receipt of narcotics by means of the same criminal method.