Ras Al Khaimah: The Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced five people to death. They were involved in drug possession and drug trafficking.

The court session presided by Judge Bilal Abul Baqi passed the sentence on an Omani and four Pakistanis after they confessed to drug trafficking through the Oman-Ras Al Khaimah border.

A senior court official said they will be executed by firing squad.

The official added the Omani was searching for a buyer for one kilogram of opium and another kilogram of hashish when the RAK Anti-Narcotics Dep-artment received a tip-off and sent an undercover agent to do the deal with him.

The Omani delivered the 2kg of drugs to the police source and he was arrested and the drugs seized.

Sting operation

During police investigations, the suspect confessed to smuggling the drugs in a television set, claiming it was a gift for a friend in RAK.

He also claimed the drugs did not belong to him and were for other people in the UAE who were going to sell them.

During the court session the Omani did not provide any names of the people, thus a panel of judges sentenced him to death.

The Criminal Court in the same session sentenced four Pakistanis to death after they were convicted of trafficking drugs into the UAE.

The first suspect was arrested after he swallowed 26 capsules of half a kilogramme of heroin.

The suspect arrived in RAK and contacted a friend to help him sell the drugs. The second suspect persuaded the third and fourth to get involved in selling the drugs, then they would share the money.

RAK Police were tipped off and recruited an undercover agent to trap the suspects.

During the undercover operation, police raided the area, arrested the suspects and seized the drugs.

The four suspects confessed, with the first providing details of the smuggling operation and how he recruited the others.

The court official said this was the first time the RAK Court had sentenced five people to death on drug charges in a single hearing. He added the suspects will have an automatic appeal against the court ruling, but if rejected, the execution will be carried out.