Man acquitted of practising unlicensed pharmacology, jailed 5 years, fined Dh20,000 over drug charge

Dubai: A jobless man has been cleared of practicing unlicensed pharmacology but will spend five years in jail for possessing and consuming Tramadol and resisting an anti-narcotics officer.

The Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the 23-year-old man, H.K., who does not carry personal identification documents, for five years and fined him Dh20,000.

He was convicted of possessing and consuming a mind-affecting substance and beating an anti-narcotics officer who tried to arrest him during a raid.

Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad acquitted H.K. of practicing pharmaceutical business without obtaining a proper license from the health authorities.

“The accused will be deported,” said the judge in courtroom seven on Thursday.
When he appeared in court, the defendant contended: “I did not hit the officer. And I did not work as a pharmacist. I did not consume any drug.”

Prosecutors said H.K. consumed two Tramadol and Procyclidine [an anti-cholinergic drug].

He was also charged with resisting an Emirati anti-narcotics second lieutenant and beating him when he tried to detain him.

The second lieutenant testified that he was assigned to pose as a buyer and contact H.K. to buy Tramadol pills.

“I went to Sonapor Area and met H.K. and another suspect. H.K. provided me with 20 pills of Tramadol and I paid him Dh200. Immediately an anti-narcotics team raided the area to arrest the suspects. H.K. resisted and pushed me down… his companion ran away. Police arrested the second suspects after chasing him. Upon searching H.K., I found Tramadol and pepper spray in his pockets.”

An Emirati anti-narcotics police captain, who was part of the raid team, searched the other suspect and seized 73 Kemadrin tablets [contains active ingredient of procyclidine hydrochloride, which is a type of medicine called an anti-cholinergic].

“H.K. admitted during primary investigations that he sold Tramadol for Dh200 meanwhile the other suspect confessed that he facilitated the trading process,” the captain claimed to prosecutors.

The forensic medicine’s report confirmed that H.K. took Tramadol and Procyclidine.
Thursday’s verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.