Dubai: A salesman has been accused of smuggling and possessing 2,240 Lyrica pills (a mind-altering substance) for promotional purposes.
The 34-year-old Turkish salesman, A.Y., was said to have arrived at the Customs counter where he was found to be carrying the banned pills in his carry-on luggage in July.
Prosecutors accused A.Y. of smuggling and possessing banned substances for promotional purposes.
The suspect pleaded not guilty and refuted the accusation of possessing the drugs for promotional purposes when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the suspect smuggled and possessed 160 packs of Lyrica pills that he intended to promote.
A Customs inspector claimed to prosecutors that his colleague at the counter suspected something that looked like pills once the suspect put his luggage on the scanner.
“My colleague told me she had found something that looked like pills and asked me to search the suspect’s luggage. I took him aside and when I opened his bag I found the Lyrica pills which are banned. There were 10 boxes of that medicine. When he removed his shirt and jersey from the bag, I also found more boxes of the same pills. When I confronted him with the findings, he alleged that someone handed him the pills in turkey and asked him to deliver them to a person whom he did not know in Dubai,” the inspector testified.
A ruling will be heard later this month.
