Dubai: A waiter has been jailed for four years for possessing and consuming banned pills although he had blamed a pharmacist for selling him tramadol instead of Panadol.
Drug officers apprehended the Egyptian waiter, R.Y., in Deira at the restaurant where he worked in July following an informant’s tip off.
Hashish and tramadol were seized at R.Y.’s residence after anti-narcotics officers raided his house and had it searched after obtaining prosecutors’ permission.
When he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance, the defendant contended that a pharmacist had wrongly sold him tramadol pills although he went to buy Panadol.
The defendant was convicted of possessing hashish and possessing and consuming tramadol.
Drug officers discovered a piece of hashish hidden inside a kettle at R.Y.’s residence.
“The piece of hashish was not mine. When I went to the pharmacy and asked for Panadol, they sold me tramadol,” he argued in court.
According to the primary ruling, the defendant will be deported following the completion of his jail term.
An anti-narcotics police corporal said a police team headed to the defendant’s workplace and arrested him outside the restaurant.
“I called him outside and presented my police ID. Upon searching him personally, I did not find any drugs in his possession. Then he guided us to his residence nearby. We searched his bed space and did not find anything as well. Then we tried to search a drawer beside his bed but it was locked … he opened it using a key that was in his pocket. We found a kettle that contained a piece of hashish. He told us that it was not for him. However when we asked him why he had denied that the hashish was his though he opened the drawer with his key … he confessed that the hashish was for his personal use … he claimed that he consumed hashish occasionally,” the corporal testified.
Court records said the accused has already appealed the primary ruling and is scheduled to appear before the Appeal Court soon.
