Court quashes prison term of Emirati

The Dubai Court of Appeals has quashed the one-year jail term awarded by the Criminal Court of First Instance to an Emirati H.H. for illegally possessing medicines without a prescription. The court also reduced the fine from Dh20,000 to Dh3,000.

The defence lawyer, Jassem Naqabi, deemed the arrest of the defendant as invalid as he was not caught redhanded.

He said that H.H. did not act with criminal intention and pointed out that his client was using the pills as sedatives.

H.H. was arrested in the Muraqqabat area in an inebriated condition on January 4 this year.

On frisking the suspect, the police officers recovered medicines for which he had no prescription.
/Khaleej Times/

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Dubai Police foils attempt to smuggle 24 KG of heroin

Dubai Police said today it had foiled an attempt to traffic 24 kilograms of heroin, valued at 6 million dollars and arrested three Asians and four Africans.

Colonel Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police said in a press conference today that the two groups tried to smuggle the pure heroin hidden in boxes containing oranges.

He revealed that the Police received information a month ago about two gangs involved in smuggling heroin into the country. Following thorough investigations, it was confirmed that the gang members were using containers coming from Pakistan to traffic heroin. They were arrested while unloading heroin at Al Aweer Vegetable Market.
/WAM/

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Dubai Customs seizes 230,000 narcotic pills

Dubai Customs recently succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of narcotic substances into the UAE via the Cargo Village at Dubai International Airport.

Customs inspectors got suspicious on February 10 on the arrival of a shipment of building material from an Arab country, which was packed in 17 large sacks weighing 935kg according to official documents. The shipment raised suspicions after passing through the security controls at the Cargo Village.

The narcotic Keptagon pills, which were well hidden inside the shipment, were discovered by the authority’s trained dogs. It is estimated that 230,000 Keptagon pills weighing approximately 40kg were confiscated by Dubai Customs. Appropriate action was immediately taken, and the person concerned and prohibited shipment were handed over to the proper authorities. This great accomplishment falls within Dubai Customs accumulated achievements in their role of ensuring the safety of the community, and protecting its citizens and residents from the dangers of harmful substances, particularly narcotics, counterfeit medicines, and other pirated goods.

Mahbub Ahmad Misbah, Executive Director, Land and Airports at Dubai Customs, emphasised that Dubai Customs and its inspectors will continue to play their part in the struggle against all forms of contraband, while keeping a watchful eye on the nation’s security and the safety of its citizens and residents, inline with the Dubai Customs strategic goals. For his part, Khalid Khammas, Executive Director, Customs Commitment, commented that: “At Dubai Customs we are continuously working to develop inspection procedures aimed at foiling attempts to smuggle dangerous substances into the country.” (WAM)

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Man sentenced to 10 years for smuggling

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday sentenced a 31-year-old Irish national, identified as L.O., to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of smuggling cocaine into the country with the intent of exporting it to Australia.

The court also ordered the convict to pay a fine of Dh50,000. He will be deported after completion of his term.

On December 11, 2007, L.O. had arrived at the Dubai International Airport on a visit visa. Because of his suspicious movements at the airport, he was put under surveillance by the officers of the Customs and Dubai Police. He was later taken into custody and sent to Dubai Hospital where an X-ray revealed capsules concealed in his stomach. Seventy-eight plastic capsules containing cocaine weighing almost 890 grams were removed from his body.
The defendant yesterday pleaded guilty of smuggling cocaine with the intent of exporting it to Australia. Source

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Zero tolerance policy on drugs: British Embassy in UAE warned Britons

The British Embassy has stressed the need to raise awareness of drugs amongst visitors to the emirate of Dubai.

"There's a zero tolerance policy, and you can go to prison for four years," the Dubai-based Gulf News quoted Simon Goldsmith, Second secretary for political and media affairs at the British Embassy as saying.

According to Goldsmith, the number of British citizen under detentions for drug-related crime is on the increase.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website contains travel advice and information about local drug laws, and operated a 2006 'Know Before you Go' campaign to raise awareness. (WAM)

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Three jailed for 15 years in drugs case

The Criminal Court of First Instance has sentenced two Pakistani nationals M.I. and S.A. and a Nigerian J.A. to 15 years in prison after they were found guilty of smuggling drugs into the country.

In the same case, a 23-year-old Pakistani, identified as A.K., was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He got a lesser jail term because his cooperation with the law-enforcement authorities led to the arrest of his accomplices.

The court also fined all the four Dh50,000 each and ordered their deportation after completion of their terms.

According to court records, A.K. arrived at the Dubai International Airport from Pakistan on April 19, 2007. After the immigration officials told him that they had not received a copy of his visa document, he got nervous. Subsequently, during questioning he confessed that he was carrying heroin concealed in his clothes.

A.K. also admitted that two of his accomplices, M.I. and S.A., had managed to pass through the immigration channels.

Thereafter, swift investigations carried out by Dubai Police’s Anti-Narcotics Department led the investigators to the hotel in Dubai where M.I. and S.A. had checked in.

The police raided the hotel room, arrested the two and recovered a huge quantity of heroin from them.

When questioned, the duo confessed that the heroin consignment was meant to be delivered to an African, identified as J.A.

As none of the two knew J.A., an undercover policeman was assigned the task of delivering the drugs. When J.A. fell into the trap he attempted to flee but was promptly overpowered and arrested. Source

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524 grams of heroin recovered from dead man’s body

As many as 40 capsules containing crude heroin weighing 524 grams were recovered from the stomach of the 32-year-old Pakistani national whose decomposed body was found in a Sharjah hotel room on January 30.

According to police, Nazeer Al Deen Mazhar had arrived at Dubai International Airport on January 26 on a visit visa and checked into a hotel in Sharjah. He managed to smuggle the drug into the country by swallowing the capsules.

According to Brig. Abdulla Ghader Al Amri, Acting Director-General of Sharjah Police Forensic Laboratory, the stomach of the deceased had bloated due to decomposition.

According to the forensic report, some of the capsules burst inside the stomach resulting in his death.

The contents of the capsules were probably meant for refinement at a later stage or used for sniffing or injecting.

The police have launched efforts to trace those for whom the drugs had been smuggled into the country. Source

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Two Britons arrested in Dubai for drug possession

Two British men face jail terms of four years each after being arrested in the tourist hot-spot of Dubai for possessing small quantities of drugs, the 7Days newsaper reported on Tuesday.

A 29-year-old man, who was not named, was caught by customs officers at Dubai International Airport with 1.2 grams of cocaine (0.04 ounces), the English language daily reported.

An unnamed 25-year-old man was also detained at the airport for carrying 0.33 grams (0.01 ounces) of marijuana in his luggage.

Both men admitted to the charge of possessing illegal narcotics and will be sentenced later this month.

The Western-oriented emirate of Dubai, one of seven that make up the United Arab Emirates, is a leisure hub in the oil-rich Gulf and draws millions of visitors every year.

But the UAE imposes tough penalties for all drug-related offences -- four years is the usual sentence for possession while trafficking carries the death penalty.

Dubai is highly popular with Britons, one million of whom visited the city state in 2005. About 100,000 British nationals live in Dubai, and 20,000 more reside in other parts of the UAE. (AFP)

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Brothers held with 300,000 banned pills

Dubai Police have foiled an attempt by two Syrian men to smuggle out 300,000 tablets of Keptagon, a performance-enhancing drug, to a neighbouring country.
The tablets were all seized by the police and the two accused were referred to the Dubai Public Prosecution, Khaleej Times has learnt. Keptagon is used illegally as a recreational drug.

The Narcotic Control Unit of Dubai Police received a tip-off that the two Syrian brothers were in possession of a large quantity of Keptagon tablets. Further interrogation revealed that the two, O.N. and M.N., who had brought in the drugs from another country, were now planning to smuggle it to a neighbouring country.

The police then laid a trap and undercover policemen convinced O.N. to sell the drug at Dh50 per tablet. As the Syrian brothers brought the drugs in plastic bags, they were arrested and referred to the Muraqqabat police station.

During their interrogation by the police, they confessed to having smuggled in the Keptagon tablets by putting them in a plastic bag and hiding it in a way that it was not spotted by X-rays. O.N., who had come to the UAE on a visit visa, had hidden the drugs in his vehicle.
The Public Prosecution has charged the two men with possessing narcotics with the intent of smuggling. Source

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Man tried to sell hashish to informant

The trial of a driver who hid half a tonne of hashish in an underground hideout and tried to sell some of it to a police informant started on Sunday.
The 45-year-old Pakistani driver, A.K., pleaded innocent before the Dubai Court of First Instance. He was charged with possessing 505 kg of hashish for commercial intent and also with consuming the drug.
A major at Dubai police's Anti-Narcotics Department said an informant tipped them off that the driver was taking drugs.
"We were also told the suspect was about to deliver hashish to our agent for money... we arrested the driver in a sting operation and seized about 200 kg of hashish."
The rest of the drugs were found buried under a garage at a farm in Ras Al Khaimah. (Gulf News)

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UK DJ held at Dubai airport with drugs

A popular British disc jockey (DJ) was detained at the Dubai International Airport by customs officials on November 23 for allegedly possessing drugs and pornographic material. He was referred to Public Prosecution on November 26.
The drum and bass icon, R.B., had flown into Dubai from Heathrow to play at a popular club when he was detained by the authorities.

Police sources told Khaleej Times, "On searching the DJ, who arrived at the airport around 7pm, the police found small quantities of marijuana in his bag and pornographic DVDs. During police interrogation, he said that he was not aware of the marijuana found in his bag.” The official added that traces of drugs were also found in his urine during lab tests by the Forensic Department.
The Public Prosecution is now expected to refer the case to the Dubai Criminal Courts. Simon Goldsmith, Second Secretary, Political and Media Affairs, at the British Embassy, Dubai, told Khaleej Times, "We are aware of the case and we are offering consular assistance."
An official from a local music distribution firm, which had booked R.B. for the gig, told Khaleej Times, "We had waited for nearly six hours for him to come out of the airport. However, later we got a call from his company in the UK and were told that he had been detained by officials."

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Eight men go on drug charge trial

Seven persons went on trial at the Sharjah Court of First Instance on Thursday on charges of smuggling 2,650 capsules of banned substance into the country.
The accused had arrived at the Sharjah International Airport aboard a flight from Lahore, Pakistan on October 27. Their movements aroused the suspicion of the Customs and police officers. After a search of their baggage revealed 2,650 capsules of Restoril and Lomotil concealed in apple boxes and two pillows. They were arrested and on their tip-off, another Pakistani national was also nabbed.

The accused told the court that they had no idea of the contents of the apple boxes and the pillows which they claimed had been handed over to them by an unnamed person before their departure from Lahore. The boxes and the pillows had to be handed over to the man who was arrested on their tip-off.
Next hearing of the case will be held on December 7, 2007. Source

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Drug capsules worth Dh15 million seized

Dubai Police have seized nearly 1.5 million capsules of Keptagon drugs worth around Dh15 million, and arrested three persons in this connection, a police source said.
The three men held by the Anti Drug Unit of Dubai Police included an Arab national, Ahmed A, and two others A.A and Ali A, also of Arab nationality.
The police source said that Ahmed had imported cotton yarns used for curtains from an Arab country through Jebel Ali port, and the drug capsules were concealed in the consignment, which the port authorities failed to detect.

The police were later tipped off that the capsules concealed in the cotton yarn consignment were kept in a company warehouse located in the northern emirates. The police raided the warehouse and arrested Ahmed along with A. A and Ali A, whilez they were loading the drugs. Ahmed had changed the labels of the packaging, which mentioned details like the country of origin of the consignment. He had also prepared all necessary documents to re-export the cotton yarn rolls to one of the GCC countries, the police source said.
The police have seized 95 yarn rolls, 28 of which included 1,517 bags containing the capsules which weighed 285kg. Source

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Dubai jails Briton for possessing ecstasy

A court in the Gulf tourist hot-spot of Dubai has sentenced a Briton to four years in prison for possessing ecstasy, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.
The 39-year-old man, who was not named, was caught by a customs official at Dubai International Airport with ecstasy pills weighing 1.71 grams (0.06 ounces), the English-language Gulf News said.
It said he would be deported after serving his sentence.
The Western-oriented emirate of Dubai, one of seven that make up the United Arab Emirates, is a leisure hub in the oil-rich Gulf and draws millions of visitors every year.

But the UAE imposes tough penalties for all drug-related offenses -- four years is the usual sentence for possession while trafficking carries the death penalty.
The Gulf News reported in June that a British tourist was jailed for four years in Dubai for possession of 0.07 grams (a little over two-thousandths of an ounce) of marijuana.
Dubai is highly popular with Britons, one million of whom visited the city state in 2005. About 100,000 British nationals live in Dubai, and 20,000 more reside in other parts of the UAE. Source

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Dubai seizes record heroin haul

Dubai Customs inspectors have seized 47kg of heroin in what they said was the biggest drug smuggling operation ever to have been attempted through Dubai Airport.
Officials apprehended two Afghani passengers from an Afghani Airlines flight from Kandahar on Wednesday 19 September. The smugglers had attempted to camouflage heroin worth millions of dollars in bags of dried almonds, from which inspectors noticed an ‘uncommon odour.’

Dubai Customs Director General, Ahmed Butti Ahmed, praised the efforts of inspectors, saying “Dubai Customs are the watchful eyes monitoring all the ports of entries to Dubai and to safeguard the society. Their high alert prevented a real tragedy from occurring and saved the lives of thousands of families”. Source

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Dubai Police seize drug

Dubai Police, in four separated operations, managed to seize about one ton of hashish and 50 kg. Of heroin whose total price is in millions of dirhams.
A source from Dubai Police told WAM that the four operations were carried out in one month, and 16 suspects have been seized, two of them are known to be great drug traders.

Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan, Chief of Dubai Police is expected to disclose the details of the four operations in a press conference later. Source

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Two held with 100 tablets of heroine

Dubai police recently foiled an attempt of drug traffickers to sell some 100 tablets of heroine. The case has been referred to the Public Prosecution.
Yousuf Al Adidi, deputy director of the Anti-Drug Unit of Dubai Police, said he had received a tip that an African national and an Asian were in possession of 100 tablets of heroine and were looking for a buyer. The CID immediately formed a team to investigate the matter and set a trap to arrest them.
Kumar, the Asian drug trafficker, had fixed an appointment to meet the African national, Samuel, near the Hyatt Regency hotel in Deira. The police arrested the two suspects red-handed with the 100 tablets in their possession. The African suspect resisted the police and tried to escape before being arrested. During interrogation, the two suspects confessed to their crime. Kumar told police that he was asked by somebody whose identity he does not know, to deliver the drug consignment to Samuel. He said he was paid money to do so.

Kumar said he had no details of the person who had smuggled the heroine tablets into the country. He claimed he was only an agent who had been asked to deliver the drugs to another person in Dubai. Laboratory tests showed that both suspects were not using drugs. However, Dubai Police have charged the two with possessing and trafficking drugs and referred them to the Public Prosecution. Source

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Authorities seize $5.4mn of fake drugs

Dubai Customs has seized over 20 million dirhams ($5.4 million) worth of counterfeit sexual stimulants and sedative drugs in one of the region’s largest busts, it was announced on Tuesday.
The raid turned up five million tablets and thousands of expired food products in a warehouse of a company operating at Jebel Ali Free Zone Area (Jafza), Dubai Customs said in a statement.
The warehouse of the company contained many types of counterfeit drugs from different international brand names, as well as large quantities of unknown pills, Dubai Customs said.

The warehouse manager and other workers have also been arrested for changing dates on expired food products.
“The popularity of the confiscated drugs makes them very dangerous. The food products could have caused serious health problems if the company had managed to sell them in the local market,” said Ahmed Butti Ahmed, director general of Dubai Customs.
“Dubai Customs protects the interests of investors in the UAE and is also committed to implement the international agreements and the Federal laws of the UAE, thus contribute in the welfare and security in the UAE and turn it into an international leading centre for combating counterfeit products,” he added.
Ahmed said the drugs were most likely to have originated from Pakistan and smuggled into Jafza using courier services over a period of time, UAE daily Khaleej Times reported.
The move follows a series of similar raids carried out by the government body in which large amounts of fake drugs and products have been seized.
In July, Dubai Customs confiscated 5 million dirhams ($1.4 million) worth of fake Plavix pills - an anti-clotting drug used to treat heart ailments - at Dubai’s Cargo Village. Customs inspectors at the cargo facility found around 556,000 fake Plavix pills packed in 20,000 boxes and shipped from the Mauritius islands. Source

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Heroine smuggling attempt foiled in Dubai

The Narcotic Control Unit of Dubai Police has foiled an attempt to smuggle 5.25 kilograms of heroine into the country.
A man of African origin was arrested at Dubai International Airport upon arrival from a neighbouring Asian country.
According to Major Mohmmed Saqr, of the Narcotic Control Unit, the passenger had raised suspicion as he looked confused. Check up revealed the heroine concealed in boxes containing medical laboratory containers.Source

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Fake Viagra smuggling attempt foiled

UAE Health, Customs and Police authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,600 kgs of fake Viagra into the country through Dubai International Airport, according to Health Minister Humaid Al Qattami.
Al Qattami described the attempt as the biggest of its kind in the UAE so far. "The consignment originated from India and was sent to Dubai with the intention of re-exporting it to other countries," he said.
"The Ministry's Drug Control Department, in collaboration with Dubai Customs and Dubai Police confiscated the fake drug upon arrival at Dubai Cargo Village," the Minister said.
Al Qattami said the consignment will be destroyed. He stressed the UAE Government's commitment to safeguarding intellectual property rights. "The Ministry of Health will deal firmly with any such attempts as they represent flagrant breaches of intellectual property rights as well as pose serious health hazards," he said.
He disclosed that a country-wide audit of the imported drugs will be conducted shortly in coordination between the federal and local authorities in order to protect the public against fake drugs.
Al Qattami lauded the cooperation rendered by Dubai Customs and Dubai Police and called for intensified efforts to block access of unlicensed drugs into the country.Source

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