Dubai: A worker was jailed for two years on Thursday for possessing drugs for promotional purposes after he communicated with a drug convict who is behind bars.

An informant alerted Dubai Police’s Anti-Narcotics Department that the 40-year-old Filipino worker possessed and consumed drugs in October.

After having obtained a search and arrest warrant from Dubai prosecutors, an anti-drug police team raided the Filipino’s house in Karama and apprehended him.

During the search operation, the worker guided the drug officers to the balcony of his flat where he had hidden a small amount of methamphetamine, according to records.

When asked who had provided him the drugs, the 40-year-old defendant said his countryman convict called him from Dubai Central Jail and told him about the place from where he could pick up the banned substance.

On Thursday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of possessing 0.49gm of methamphetamine for promotional purposes and consuming the same.

The Filipino pleaded guilty to possessing drugs but denied he had intended to promote them.

Presiding judge Urfan Omar said the accused will be deported after serving his jail term.

The defendant argued in court that he possessed the methamphetamine for his personal use.

An anti-narcotics police officer said the accused was apprehended shortly before night.

“When we searched his flat, he guided us to the balcony where he had hidden the drugs inside a suit that was hung in a cupboard. Upon questioning him about who had provided him that drug, he claimed that his countryman [who is a drug convict and imprisoned] called him to fetch it from a certain spot. The accused said the convict used to ask him to keep the drugs for some time until someone comes to purchase them. After selling the drugs, according to the defendant’s statement, he would transfer the proceeds to his countryman’s account. The defendant said that he used to get a commission for doing so … and he also sold drugs to two Filipinos in Sharjah and Al Ain,” the police officer said.

The primary ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.