Woman visitor gets 7-year term for drug possession

Dubai: A woman visitor has received a 7-year jail term after being found guilty of smuggling nearly 4,400 codeine capsules weighing 1.7 kilograms.

She was arrested at Dubai International Airport with the capsules that she claimed she needed for medical purposes.

The Dubai Court of First Instance also fined the 42-year-old Iranian woman, S.A., Dh50,000.

"The accused will be deported following the completion of her punishment," Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad said.

The defendant admitted that she possessed the capsules, but added that she used them for "medical purposes".

Her lawyer provided the court with a medical prescription which he claimed his client obtained from her doctor in Iran and had it notarised.

Medical prescription

"My client did not have any criminal intention. She suffers from hernia and other ailments… she had a medical prescription for those capsules. We also ask the court to acquit her or treat her with leniency because she takes care of her sick 74-year-old husband," said her lawyer, whose request to bail S.A. was rejected in an earlier hearing.

According to the charge-sheet, Chief Drugs Prosecutor Walid Ali Khalifa asked the court to award the toughest punishment applicable.

An Emirati policewoman testified that S.A. was arrested at Dubai International Airport's transit section.

"She was taken to the luggage belt to pick up her bags. Upon searching her handbags, we found a big plastic box that looked like a yoghurt box. It was wrapped with clothes. We found plenty of white rounded capsules hidden inside the box …," the policewoman said.

Arrest warrant

An Emirati anti-narcotics police corporal testified that they issued an arrest warrant after one of their informants warned them that the defendant would be coming from Iran carrying drugs.

The airport's customs inspectors arrested the woman as soon as she arrived in Dubai.

Yesterday's verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.