Filipina visitor denies selling drug to Dubai police informant

Dubai: A Filipina visitor has pleaded not guilty to attempting to sell 0.08g of a mind-affecting substance to a female informant in Al Rigga Street, heard a court on Monday.

"I am innocent ... I didn't possess or try to sell any drug," the 28-year-old Filipina suspect told Dubai Court of First Instance.

The Public Prosecution charged the woman, L.A., and her compatriot suspect, who is at large, with possessing mini-pills of a mind affecting substance, which is known among Filipinos as shabu, weighing 0.08g for commercial purposes.

Sting operation

An anti-narcotics captain at Dubai Police testified: "An informant reported us that the suspect was looking for someone to buy the mini-pills from her in Al Riga Street. The female informant posed as a buyer and agreed to buy the drug for Dh500 ... she met the suspect near one of the buildings and bought the drug. The Filipina was arrested in a sting operation."

Records said when the captain questioned the visitor she admitted that she worked for her compatriot and claimed that her role was limited to delivering the pills to clients.

"She said she used to meet up with the Filipino runaway in the morning to collect the pills [and] then she meets him and pays the profit in the evening when she meets him again ... she alleged that she didn't know his whereabouts. She claimed that he used to call her," said the anti-narcotics captain.

The court will assign a lawyer to defend the Filipina when it reconvenes soon.