How buying drugs online can land you in trouble in the UAE
Besides jail term and fines, buyers are slapped with ban on financial transactions too
Dubai: Buying drugs online in UAE can invite restrictions on financial transaction with buyers being banned from wiring and depositing money for two years after they haved served their sentence, according to the UAE anti-narcotics law.
Despite the law being lenient to first-time offenders with a focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment, legal experts explained how convicted buyers are not allowed to transfer and deposit money to others by themselves or through others.
The new Decree No. 30 of 2021 issued last September brought key amendments to Federal Law No. 14 of 1994 on narcotic and psychotropic substances.
In a recent case at the Dubai Court of First Instance, a defendant who bought drugs online from a drug dealer was sentenced to three months in prison. The court also ordered to ban him from wiring or depositing the money for two years after he serves his jail term.
According to records, the defendant received a WhatsApp message from a strange number offering to sell drugs. He contacted the number and ordered hashish.
According to Dubai Public Prosecution, the defendant transferred the money to a bank account given by the drug dealer and the latter sent him a location of the buried drugs in Dubai.
Lawyer Bader Khamis told Gulf News that drug dealers have created this new way to sell drugs to make it harder for people to track them.
However, selling drugs online is punishable under the law.
Article 64 of the law said that anyone who transfers money by himself or through others for consuming drugs shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine of Dh50,000.
“Some people find it an easy or smart to get drugs online, thinking the police won’t catch them. But law enforcement has got the better of them,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Mohammed Al Najar told Gulf News that Article 74 mentioned a financial restriction for two years for convicted people.
“The prison term and the fine of Dh50,000 are not the only penalties. Financial restrictions will deter anyone thinking of buying drugs online,” said Al Najar.
Article 74 of the new law states that anyone convicted of buying drugs online will be banned from wiring or deporting money for two years.
“It is a major development in the law as the punishment extends to banking transactions. All of us use the banking system in our daily lives and having a financial restriction imposed for two years is a huge deterrent.”
Dubai Police campaign
Dubai Police have arrested 100 traffickers using GPS to sell drugs during a major campaign to combat unknown messages.
They targeted the public through an illegal WhatsApp “drug delivery service”.
Criminals sent messages to users of the service promoting the sale of items such as illegal painkillers, hashish and crystal meth.
After a purchase was agreed, they would share the location of the drugs, which were usually buried in the ground in remote areas.
According to Colonel Abdullah Al Khayat, Director of Hemaya International Centre in Dubai Police, “Dubai Police noticed a suspicious activity similar to the concept of a delivery system, but this was for supplying drugs. It was an online message to people in the country, promoting different kinds of drugs.
"Traffickers send messages to clients and once the latter agree to buy drugs, the substances are buried at specific places and the location is then shared through GPS with the client as soon as the money is transferred.”
What do these messages say?
Typically, messages from drug traffickers that are sent to people in the UAE are in Arabic. They show a piece of an illegal narcotic substance with a text saying: “Salam Alaykum my friend. Hashish, Crystal, Lyrica, Tramadol, everything available.”