Man jailed, fined Dhs200,000 for importing psychotropic substances into Dubai

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an African, 30, to seven years in jail to be followed by deportation and fined him Dhs200,000 for bringing 1,990 tablets of psychotropic substances into the country via Dubai International Airport.

The court also prohibited the defendant from transferring or depositing any funds directly or through others except with permission issued by the Central Bank of the UAE in co-ordination with the Ministry of Interior. The prohibition will continue for two years after the sentence has been completed.

Earlier, a customs inspector was suspicious of a passenger while he was passing through the arrivals hall in Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport. The inspector stated that he asked the defendant to place a plastic bag that he had with him on the inspection table where medicine strips containing 990 tablets of narcotics and weighing around 540 grams were hidden among food items.

He continued to inspect the defendant’s belongings, where he found an additional 1,000 narcotic tablets hidden among the clothes inside the luggage, bringing to 1,990 tablets of prohibited psychotropic substances seized, he said.

The defendant, however, claimed that the narcotic tablets in his possession were brought from his home country based on a medical prescription for his personal use but did not have the prescription with him.

The defendant was then referred to the competent authorities, and the police began investigating the incident.

On interrogation, the defendant confessed that he brought those tablets into the country for purposes not legally authorized, while technical reports issued by the competent authorities confirmed that the seized materials fell under the schedules of prohibited narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

After reviewing the related reports and hearing the defendant’s statements, the court stated that the defendant’s way of hiding the tablets inside foodstuffs and clothing and the size of the seized quantity negated the claim of personal use and consequently the prescribed penalties should be imposed.