Dubai: A carpenter, who worked with Dubai Police and accepted Dh6,600 in bribe to smuggle illegal pills to an inmate at Dubai Central Prison, has been jailed for a year.

The 53-year-old Sudanese carpenter, H.H., accepted Dh6,600 and a mobile phone as bribery to smuggle the pills to the Emirati prisoner in December 2014.

The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed H.H. for a year and fined him Dh6,600 [value of the bribe] and ordered that the phone be confiscated.

H.H. admitted that he took a bribe to smuggle a mobile phone and not to smuggle tramadol pills into prison.

According to the primary ruling, the Emirati inmate, A.S., and Pakistani worker, A.M., were jailed one year each for bribing H.H. and possessing 161 tramadol pills.

The three accused were each fined Dh20,000 for possessing the banned pills for transportation purposes.

“I am guilty… I took cash and the mobile to smuggle banned materials [phone] to A.S. I did not smuggle drugs,” the Sudanese told court.

When asked by the presiding judge why he took cash from A.S. and A.M., H.H. said he was going through a critical financial situation and needed the money.

“They gave me the money to smuggle a mobile into the prison,” he defended.

A.M. pleaded innocent and contended that he owed A.S. money and had to pay it back to him. “As per A.S.’s request, I gave the money to H.H.,” the Pakistani argued.

A.S. also pleaded innocent.

When asked why lent A.M. Dh6,600, the Emirati explained: “He is my friend and needed money to rectify his visa status. We did not posses any tramadol or any banned pills. I have Aids, hepatitis, diabetes and hypertension. H.H. took the money without my consent. I want my money and the mobile phone back… he took them in an illegal manner.”

H.H. and A.M. will be deported after serving their punishments.

A police lieutenant testified that an informant alerted them that the carpenter had been abusing his job and smuggling prohibited materials to inmates against money.

“The informant told us that H.H. had accepted a bribe to smuggle phones and banned pills. A special investigative team was formed to look into the informant’s tip… thereafter we learnt that H.H. hid a mobile phone in the washroom’s ceiling. We raided the washroom and found the mobile and a pack of biscuits hidden there. The next day we apprehended H.H. and took him in for questioning. The latter admitted that he had been smuggling banned materials to A.S. for a while. Police raided his residence and found several mobile phones and a pack of cigarettes that contained tramadol pills. H.H. alleged that he took the materials from A.M., who was arrested shortly after that in Deira,” said the lieutenant.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 13 days.