Dubai: A sailor stunned a court on Sunday when he admitted that he possessed a liquid drug, which he claimed he had been using to recover from addiction.
A Customs inspector was said to have discovered a bottle containing 600ml of methadone that the 31-year-old Iranian sailor, J.I., hid inside a tea kettle on board a boat that had just berthed at a port in July.
Drugs prosecutors charged J.I. with smuggling and possessing methadone for consumption purposes.
The suspect entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said J.I. smuggled a yellowish transparent liquid drug [methadone] for his personal use.
“I am not guilty. I possessed that fluid substance as a treatment,” the suspect told presiding judge Mohammad in court.
“Treatment from what?” the presiding judge asked him.
“I was a drug addict and a doctor prescribed that substance to treat me for drug addiction,” J.I. replied.
A Customs inspector claimed to prosecutors that they were informed about a boat coming from Iran that had just berthed in a port.
“We were instructed to search the boat for any purportedly hidden drugs. I went to the boat and searched the kitchen. I found a yellowish liquid inside the kettle. Upon confronting the boat’s crew members, they all denied any connection to the suspected material. Meanwhile the suspect admitted that the substance belonged to him and he had been keeping it for his personal use … J.I. alleged that the crew members were not aware that the substance existed,” the inspector testified to prosecutors.
A chief inspector claimed to prosecutors that when they searched the boat, the suspect seemed scared and perplexed and his face was red.
“Upon questioning the suspect, he claimed that he had been consuming that substance to detoxify,” he testified.
Presiding judge Jamal will hand out a ruling on December 4.
