Dubai: A manager has been accused of possessing more than 150 sex toys and promoting them for sale on Facebook and social media networks in Dubai.
The European manager was said to have imported different types of sex toys from China via a courier company and posted images of those products on a special Facebook page and promoted them for sale in October last year.
Dubai Police’s economic crimes section was informed that the manager and his countryman, both of whom in their 40s, were promoting sex toys for sale and distribution.
After obtaining prosecutor’s permission, Dubai Police tasked the informant to contact the manager and pose as a client interested in purchasing a sex toy as part of a sting operation.
Records showed the informant called up the number that was available on the Facebook page and agreed to meet the man to buy the sex toy.
Soon after the deed was struck, police raided the flat where the European man had been keeping the sex toys and apprehended him. His countryman was also apprehended.
The duo were referred to the Public Prosecution.
Prosecutors accused the manager of possessing items of pornographic and sexual nature and illegally promoting those items via the social media networks.
The main suspect’s accomplice was accused of failing to report a crime to the authorities.
The two defendants pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
Records showed police arrested the two from their flat in Silicon Oasis during a sting operation.
Police seized tens of sex toys in the flat during the raid.
The manager told police interrogators that he had been living in the UAE for more than 10 years and that as he needed money, he started promoting the sex toys on Facebook.
“Police raided my flat at 11am shortly after I had sold a sex toy to an Arab man. The items were sexual materials and I used to import them from China to sell them in Dubai. I was aware that advertising and selling such items is against the law, but I sold them because I needed money. I had started selling them six months prior to my arrest,” he was cited as telling police interrogators.
During prosecution questioning, the manager claimed that he had possessed the sex toys for his personal use.
He further claimed that his countryman did not sell any sex toys but was aware that he had been selling them.
The countryman suspect claimed that the sex toys belonged to the manager and that he was apprehended from the latter’s flat.
A ruling will be heard later this month.
