Duo jailed for promoting tramadol behind police station

Dubai: A man was jailed for life on Sunday for possessing tramadol capsules and Procyclidine tablets for promotional purposes after he was arrested behind a police station.

The Dubai Court of First Instance also fined the 32-year-old Emirati defendant, A.M., Dh50,000.

Presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi sentenced A.M.’s 19-year-old countryman, M.H., to two years and fined him Dh50,000 for the same offence.

M.H. was handed a lenient jail term due to his young age (under 21).

Drugs prosecutors accused the Emirati duo of possessing tens of tramadol capsules and Procyclidine pills for promotional purposes and taking the drugs.

Records said officers arrested the defendants in a sting operation after an informant told them that A.M. was supposed to hand over tramadol and Procyclidine to M.H. behind Al Ghusais Police Station in October 2013.

“I possessed tramadol and Procyclidine for personal use and not for promotion. I consumed tramadol and Procyclidine,” said A.M.

When asked by the presiding judge if he had possessed the drugs for promotional purposes, M.H. said: “I possessed the capsules and pills for my personal consumption. I did not intend to promote them at all.”

According to Sunday’s ruling, the drugs will be confiscated.

Prosecutors said A.M. was in possession of 260 tramadol capsules and 857 Procyclidine pills for promotional purposes and consumed the two banned substances. M.H. was charged with possessing 48 tramadol capsules and a few half-capsules that weighed 1.5g for promotional purposes. He was also charged with taking tramadol.

An anti-narcotics policeman said following an informant’s tip-off, an undercover anti-narcotics team kept watch on the area.

“M.H. arrived by taxi from Sharjah. He came out and waited near a cafeteria. When A.M. arrived, the two spoke for a while then they jumped into the taxi that drove behind the cafeteria. The defendants stepped out again and sat in front of an electric cable for a while. They went back to the taxi that drove between old houses. The stake-out team then raided the location and arrested the duo. Upon searching the defendants, we seized the capsules and pills in their possession. M.H. claimed that his brother called him and asked him to collect the banned substances from A.M.”

Prosecution records said more tramadol capsules and Procyclidine pills were found at A.M.’s house.

The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.