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The marijuana plant discovered in the police operation. Image Credit: Courtesy: Al Aan

Dubai: A 28-year-old man was arrested for growing marijuana plants in his Abu Dhabi home.

Brig General Dr Rashid Bu Rasheed, director of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Abu Dhabi Police said: “The Asian man had soil, lighting and controlled the temperature in his home in order to grow and sustain the marijuana plants."

Brig Gen Bu Rasheed explained that an investigation team was aware of the suspect and had been following him for some time. Police eventually caught the suspect red-handed while he was attempting to sell nearly half a kilo of the plants.

Police have since seized the illegal substances.

The suspect also possessed more than 600 grams of marijuana, including a large quantity of seeds.

During the interrogation, the suspect confessed to harvesting the marijuana plants, and the case has been transferred to public prosecution. 

In 2016, an Emirati man was sentenced to 10 years in jail for planting 38 marijuana plants in his Dubai villa and a Dh50,000 fine. According to Dubai Police, the majority of the plants were found on the ground floor of the villa and some of the plants had reached up to 1.5 metres in height.

The suspect had partitioned a room on the ground floor into three to grow the plants, and also possessed marijuana-drying equipment.