Dubai: A Syrian convict, who was jailed for life in 1999 for being involved in Dubai’s infamous drug crime to establish two factories to manufacture Mandrax pills, is seeking an early release on grounds of good conduct.

In June 1999, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the convict, M.M., and 23 others for life and fined each of them Dh200,000 for smuggling 843 kilograms of Methacolone and establishing two factories to manufacture six million Mandrax pills and sell them in 1997.

Nearly 24 defendants were involved in the case, which was described by Dubai’s most famous and dangerous drug crime, in which police confiscated more than four tonnes of drugs.

Court records said the convicts had planned to distribute the drugs in Africa and India for a profit of about Dh120 million.

Having spent nearly 15 years of his lifer, M.M. lodged a special plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance’s presiding judge Mohammad Jamal seeking an early release based on grounds of good conduct and having memorised several verses from the Quran, while serving his jail term in Dubai Central Jail.

In his petition, M.M. mentioned that he has completed more than 15 years behind bars during which he served his punishment without violating the jail’s rules and regulations and enjoyed a ‘violation-free and clean record’ since 1998. He also provided the court with a letter issued from the jail’s general director confirming that he [M.M.] showed serious interest in correcting himself by memorising the Quran and participating in workshops.

Meanwhile, prosecutors asked the court to approve M.M.’s plea to shorten his imprisonment and award him an early release based on article 1/45 of the Federal Law No 43 of 1992, concerning regulating punitive and correctional establishments.

Presiding judge Jamal adjourned the hearing until next week.

Meanwhile the same court granted five Indian convicts, involved in the same case, an early release in November 2012.

Records said one of the convicts, Syrian Z.A.O., was arrested in Beirut after absconding for seven years.

Prosecutors charged the defendants, including Z.A.O. and an Emirati senior government official from Umm Al Quwain, with smuggling huge quantities of methacolone and some acids that they used to manufacture more than six million Mandrax pills.

The official housed the defendants in a villa on the Umm Al Quwain-Ras Al Khaymah Road. The villa was one of the drug factories, while the other one was near a water park in Dubai.

Acting on a tip off, Dubai police began looking for Z.A.O. in June 1997. They raided a car showroom in Al Garhoud, where he was selling premium used cars that had been stolen from Europe.

After tracking down several other suspects, police raided the factory in Umm Al Quwain. Five million pills were found there and a million were found at the factory in Dubai.