Dubai: A manager has been jailed for four years for smuggling and possessing 34 pots containing marijuana seeds that he intended to grow for his personal consumption.
Drug enforcement officers raided the flat of the 39-year-old British manager, F.A., following an informant’s tip off and seized 312gm of marijuana in the form of seeds and a dry grass-like substance in June.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted F.A. of smuggling and possessing marijuana seeds with the intention of growing them and possessing marijuana for his personal consumption.
The Briton pleaded guilty when he appeared in court.
“I smuggled those pots with me but not to grow them. And I possessed the marijuana for my personal consumption,” he contended.
Presiding judge Ezzat Mansour said the accused will be deported following the completion of his jail term.
When asked by the judge about the seeds and the pots and if he had intended to grow them, the accused contended: “I did not intend to grow them. I intended to dry them in order to smoke them.”
An anti-narcotics drug major testified that an informant alerted them that the defendant possessed and consumed marijuana in his flat in Al Barsha
“After obtaining prosecutors’ warrant, an anti-narcotics police team raided the defendant’s flat. When asked if he had any drugs hidden in his residence, F.A. willingly guided us to the kitchen and opened the microwave where he had kept a pot that contained marijuana. We also seized other pots from the balcony. We also discovered a drawer that the Briton had appropriated as a space to grow marijuana [he provided the proper ventilation and lighting for the marijuana pots in the drawer]. He alleged that he had smuggled the drugs from India and grew them in his house to smoke,” testified the major.
Thursday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
