Dubai: A father, his two sons and a vendor have each been jailed for life for possessing five bags that contained 6.2kg of poppy seeds for trafficking purposes.
Following an informant’s tip off, drug enforcement officers raided a store in September and apprehended the 68-year-old Bangladeshi storeowner, S.N., his two sons, and their 60-year-old countryman vendor, I.B., in Al Sabkha area.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the quartet of possessing poppy seeds for trafficking purposes although they pleaded not guilty.
The 68-year-old father admitted, according to records, to a drug enforcement officer that he [S.N.] had been selling poppy seeds in Dubai for more than 30 years.
Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the drug will be confiscated while the four will be deported following the completion of their punishment.
An anti-narcotics police lieutenant testified in court that an informant alerted them that a person possessed and consumed drugs in a store in Al Sabkha area.
“We obtained prosecutors’ warrant to search the store and headed to the location. We raided the grocery at 9.30pm and we arrested all those who worked in the store. We searched them personally but did not find any drugs in their possession. Then when we asked them if they had any poppy seeds in the store, S.N. replied that they used to have poppy seeds but they ran out of it. We searched the front desk and found a bag full of poppy seeds under it and we also found another bag that contained poppy seeds in the upper floor. Upon confronting the defendants with the findings, the father admitted that he was aware that the seized substances were banned and that he had ordered his sons to get rid of them but they did not. S.N. claimed that they brought the seized substances from an Indian person.
“He also claimed that the Indian person must have smuggled the poppy seeds through Dubai International Airport. The sons claimed during questioning that they used to sell poppy seeds but they stopped doing so four months before their arrest. The sons claimed that a recent drug raid led to the arrest of workers who possessed 163kg of poppy seeds in a neighbouring store, after which they stopped selling poppy seeds. I.B. claimed that he used to weigh the poppy seeds before distributing them to buyers,” the lieutenant said.
Sunday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
