Dubai: A waiter at a burger joint has been accused of possessing nearly 500gm of marijuana that drug enforcement officers seized from him near his workplace.
The 32-year-old Nigerian waiter, F.E., was said to have hid the marijuana in a nylon sack that drug officers seized in his possession during a sting operation in February.
Drugs prosecutors accused the waiter of possessing drugs without any particular intention.
The suspect pleaded guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said F.E. possessed a grass like and dried substance [marijuana] for.
An anti-narcotics police lieutenant testified to prosecutors that an informant alerted them that the waiter possessed drugs on Shaikh Zayed Road.
“We obtained prosecutors’ search and arrest warrant and a police patrol was dispatched to the location. The Nigerian suspect was standing behind the building near his workplace … we apprehended him immediately after we raided the place at 8.55pm. We seized the marijuana in his hand. We took him to Dubai Police’s anti-narcotics department for further interrogation … during which he alleged that he possessed the drugs for promotional purposes. He claimed that a Nigerian man named W. had provided him with the marijuana and asked him to promote it among users in Al Quoz 2 area. Thereafter he guided us to the labour accommodation where he lived. He was primarily charged with possessing marijuana for promotional purposes,” the lieutenant claimed.
Presiding judge Urfan Omar said a ruling will be heard on May 16.
