UAE | Crime
Dubai Court reduces marijuana trafficker's life sentence
A court has reduced the jail sentence of a Ugandan visitor who was caught trafficking marijuana in Dubai from 25 years to 10 years.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 22:48 July 2, 2009
Dubai: A court has reduced the jail sentence of a Ugandan visitor who was caught trafficking marijuana in Dubai from 25 years to 10 years.
The court has also slapped the trafficker, 23-year-old S. M., with a hefty fine of Dh50,000 which the accused will have to pay before he is deported after serving his jail sentence.
The Dubai Court of First Instance had earlier awarded the Ugandan with a 25-year sentence after he was found guilty of trafficking 11 marijuana joints which were found hidden in a pencil case under his bed.
The Public Prosecution had charged S. M. with possessing 5.07 grammes of marijuana which he intended to sell in Dubai.
A first lieutenant from Dubai Police Anti-narcotics Department testified that a special squad confiscated the drugs found in S. M.'s possession when they raided his house in Al Hamriya.
"An informant warned us that S. M. was consuming drugs. The informant also alerted us that he possessed a quantity of marijuana-stuffed cigarettes which he planned to sell.
"We raided his house and seized the drugs hidden in a pencil case placed under his bed.
"He claimed that he bought each cigarette for Dh30 and he resells it for Dh50 per cigarette."
The appeals verdict is still subject to appeal within 30 days before Dubai's Cassation Court.
Share this article
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- HAAD action against doctor who sold sick leaves
- Napolitano warns against anti-Muslim backlash
- Fog sweeps the UAE
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
- So what will it take to float Gulf News' boat?
