Abu Dhabi: A man accused of selling drugs in Abu Dhabi was given the death penalty on Monday by the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance.
The 22-year-old Afghan man had entered the country on a visit visa with the intention of selling drugs.
Colonel Hamad Ahmad Al Hammadi of the Abu Dhabi police said the drugs had been smuggled in hidden within electronic equipment. "Eight kilogrammes of drugs, worth Dh440,000, were concealed within 51 electronic items including DVD and CD players and car stereos," he said.
Attempted transaction
The defendant had tried to sell four kilogrammes of heroin for Dh220,000 to an undercover agent from the Abu Dhabi police, and was arrested as he attempted to make the transaction.
Police then found four more kilogrammes of the drug in his hotel room in Dubai. Under the anti-drug trafficking laws, anyone convicted of smuggling or importing drugs will be sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail, and fined.
The law also penalises anyone found guilty of possessing drugs with a jail term of between one and three years and a fine.
Anyone charged with drug trafficking and smuggling faces life imprisonment and a fine and, if the crime is repeated, the suspect is sentenced to death.
