UAE | Crime
Visitor denies knowledge of marijuana in luggage
A British disc jockey has claimed that he was unaware of possessing 2.16 grams of marijuana which were seized from his possession at the airport, heard a court on Sunday.
- By Bassam Za'za, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:11 January 28, 2008
Dubai: A British disc jockey has claimed that he was unaware of possessing 2.16 grams of marijuana which were seized from his possession at the airport, heard a court on Sunday.
"I did not know the drugs were in my possession," the 40-year-old Briton, identified as R.W., told the Dubai Court of First Instance.
The Public Prosecution charged him with illegally bringing and possessing 2.16 grams of marijuana for personal use.
Unintended
The suspect said before Presiding Judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm that he didn't intend to bring the drugs with him and he was unaware that it was in his possession.
Medical reports said a tetra-hydro cannabinol, an active component of hashish, was found in the defendant's urine.
One of the DJ's lawyers, Mohammad Al Redha, of Al Redha and Co Advocates and Legal Consultants, told Gulf News yesterday: "We appealed to Dubai's Public Prosecution that the suspect consumed drugs outside its jurisdiction [outside the country]. The public prosecutor who questioned our client acquitted him of consuming drugs. However, he has been charged with smuggling and possessing marijuana with the intent to consume it."
Al Redha and his fellow lawyer, Mohammad Al Suwaidi, of Al Suwaidi and Associates Advocates and Legal Consultants, who are representing R.W., will present their defence to court when it reconvenes on February 5.
Search
A 24-year-old customs inspector, who caught the Briton, testified: "The suspect arrived at the arrivals terminal on November 23, 2007, around 8.40pm. I asked him for his passport and took him to the search room.
"I didn't find anything when I searched him personally. Upon searching his luggage, I found a small transparent sack which contained the marijuana. When I confronted him with the findings, he said it was marijuana and for his personal use. He claimed that he mistakenly forgot it in his trousers."
The customs inspector said the suspect admitted to him that "he takes marijuana in Britain".
Court: Fast deportation plea
An American visitor has pleaded guilty to illegally bringing in marijuana for personal use and asked a court to deport him to his country soon.
The 32-year-old American, B.W., confessed to illegally bringing in 0.45 grams of marijuana and two seeds of cannabis, as charged by the Public Prosecution.
He pleaded guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance and asked Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir to issue a fast verdict and deport him soon. A female customs inspector testified: "I asked the defendant for his passport because I suspected him when he reached the customs search counter. When I searched his handbag, I found some tobacco mixed with marijuana plus a seed of cannabis in the bottom of the bag. I also found a similar seed in his jacket which was in his bag. The same kind of tobacco was also found in his jeans."
Her male colleague said: "I took the suspect to the search room and found a piece of tobacco mixed with marijuana in his trousers. When I asked him about the seed, he said it was marijuana and he forgot it in his pocket and didn't intend to bring it with him to town."
The suspect who was referred to the Anti-Narcotics Department of Dubai Police confessed that he consumed drugs in Addis Ababa two weeks prior to coming to Dubai. A verdict will be heard soon.
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