Dubai: Two farmers and a jobless man have been accused of growing up to 1,036 marijuana plants outside Dubai in a farm that they used as a den for drug users.
The Pakistani trio was said to have planted marijuana seeds in Al Fuqa’a area and possessed 7.8kg of drugs at the farm that they prepared as a den for drug consumers.
Following an informant’s tip off, drug enforcement officers raided the farm, apprehended the two farmers, the jobless man, and seven other Pakistanis, who were using different forms of banned substances in March.
Drugs prosecutors accused the two farmers and the jobless man of growing marijuana, possessing drugs and preparing the farm as a den for drug users.
The seven other Pakistanis, aged between 25 and 32, were accused of consuming hashish.
When the 10 suspects were produced before the Dubai Court of First Instance, presiding judge Mohammad Jamal did not mete out their charges on Tuesday.
According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the farmers and the jobless man planted marijuana and possessed the same drug to sell to others [the other seven suspects]. They were also accused of preparing the farm as a den for consumers to come and use the marijuana that they had planted.
An anti-narcotics police major claimed to prosecutors that a police team raided the farm following an informant’s tip off that a farmer had been planting marijuana and selling it to consumers.
“We raided the farm and apprehended the two farmers and the jobless man, who had grown the marijuana seeds at the farm. We also detained seven other men who had been consuming hashish at the farm. Primary interrogations revealed that the three main suspects [the two farmers and jobless man] had prepared the farm as a den for drug users. The trio had also sold drugs to those seven suspects. During the raid, we seized more than 1000 marijuana plants,” the major testified to prosecutors.
A ruling will be heard on November 29.
