Dubai: Indian youth from affluent families are increasingly ending up on the wrong side of the law for drug-related offences in the UAE, top lawyers and welfare groups say.
The crimes, they said, pertain not just to drug consumption, but also possession and pedalling. With the law unsparing on all three counts (see box), they warned that subsequent arrests and their far-reaching consequences - legal, financial, social and psychological - are shattering families as they try in vain to put up a defence.
Dubai Police arrested 770 people of many nationalities for drug offences during the first six months of 2014. Of them, 323 were foreigners.
K. Kumar, convenor of the Indian Community Welfare Committee, said: “There are 67 Indians serving jail terms in Dubai and the northern emirates for drug-related offences. Often, young students plea that they were unaware of the law or that they got carried away and gave drugs a try. But how can this be justified? We all know drug abuse is not tolerated anywhere in the world and the UAE is no exception.”
Legal speak
Tina Thapar of Al Midfa & Associates said the offences, reported not just among Indians, is invariably attributed to ignorance. “But ignorance has no excuse in international law. An offender is answerable for a crime whether he has committed it with or without intention.”
O.V. Musthafa Zafeer of Musthafa & Almana International Legal Consultants, said: “It’s frightening to see the number of cases coming in. We alone get a minimum of three to four fresh cases every month. It’s an unending trauma for the families. The adverse social and emotional impact aside, they end up spending huge amounts of money on finding legal recourse. But the probability of getting an acquittal is nil unless the judge shows leniency under extraordinary circumstances.”
According to him, there are two main reasons behind the disturbing trend: lack of awareness about the consequences, and shockingly enough, easy access to drugs.
He said: “It is easier for students here to procure drugs than alcohol for which they must be over 21 years of age and have liquor permits. Drugs, on the other hand, can be obtained from dubious sources without questions asked. So the youth think they can get away with it - until they are caught and it is too late. Sometimes, just being in the wrong company can land them in trouble.”
Consider some recent cases. One Dubai-based lawyer said four boys and a girl were arrested from a birthday party at a plush New Dubai apartment following a raid. “All of them tested positive for a drug, but one of the boys swore he had not smoked the substance. Even if that were true, there was enough evidence he had inhaled the drug in the company of others. As a result, all of them were convicted to four years in prison.”
Citing a second case, another lawyer said police raided a gala party at a young Indian expat’s luxurious suburban villa on a tip-off and rounded up over two dozen people for consuming drugs. “Barring four who were let off after testing negative, all of them are serving jail terms for a year now, even as life for the families has turned topsy-turvy.”
In a third case, an Indian teenager was arrested with his friends at a Metro station for suspected hashish consumption. “The boy tested negative, but his friends who were users let on that he had supplied the hashish to them. The boy admitted he had passed on the substance to them after a visiting cousin had left it behind in his house,” said the lawyer whom the family consulted.
Police effort
With the supply chain seeping into the safety of homes and schools, Dubai Police have joined hands with many schools to wipe out the scourge.
“We are seeing students aged between 14 and 19 abusing prescription pills,” one official told XPRESS. “This could be due to peer pressure, stress, or just a belief that it would help them focus better. Parents need to look out for symptoms of drug abuse in their children, which may include slurred speech and slower motor function.”
Kumar said it is imperative parents keep a close watch on their kids’ movements. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. Also, they must not carry stuff for others while travelling. Indian nationals should know that khus khus or poppy seeds which are extensively used in cooking back home are banned in the UAE.”
Lawyers said arrests on these two counts are all too common despite repeated warnings. Thapar said: “Just this week, we came across a case where an Indian youth with 100 grams of khus khus worth Rs60 was arrested at Dubai Airport. The substance is banned in the UAE. The youth said he had no idea about it and that someone had purchased a set of ingredients, included khus khus, for him so he could make chicken biryani and chicken curry.”
Similarly, she cited an instance where a youngster from India fell for a free-ticket-to-Dubai trap and accepted a parcel to be handed over to a UAE resident. Sure enough, he was arrested on arrival on charges of carrying drugs. “His career has been ruined even before it started.”
What does the law say
Federal Law No. 14/1995 lists a set of narcotic substances and psychotropic substances, according to which an offence is treated as a felony (major) or misdemeanor (minor). Use of prohibited substances as per Schedule 1,2,4 & 5 could incur a minimum of four years in prison with or without a fine not less than Dh10,000. The minimum sentence for prohibited drugs found on person (even without using it) is 10 years jail followed by deportation. If the intention is to sell a drug, punishment is death sentence.
-With inputs from Razmig Bedirian
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