Dubai: A man stands accused of supplying crystal meth and illegal painkillers to students, a Dubai court heard on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Emirati was arrested in February of this year after teenage addicts were arrested and led police to their supplier.
A police officer from the anti-narcotics department testified that police given a tip-off that two male youngsters and a girl all under the age of 18 were consuming illegal drugs in an apartment in Al Nahda.
Police arrested the suspects who admitted to using crystal meth.
“Their lab tests came back positive and they claimed that they got the drugs from the defendant,” said the officer.
“One of the suspects said the defendant was his friend and that he supplied him 10 times with drugs without money.”
“The girl claimed she bought illegal painkillers from the defendant for Dh100.”
“They all confessed that the defendant supplied the drugs for them for an amount of money. He even threatened the students so that they wouldn’t reveal his name to police,” the policeman added.
The defendant was later arrested and charged with supplying drugs, but the students weren’t prosecuted due to their age and lack of a record in drug addiction.
The next hearing will be held on July 29, and until then the defendant will remain in police custody.
Police have meanwhile embraced the addicted teenagers.
Last month, Brigadier Eid Mohammad Thani Hareb, Director of Anti-Narcotic Department at Dubai Police, warned parents about neglecting their children or leaving them with maids and allowing them to fall into the wrong crowd of friends.
“The major problem we noticed is parents don’t know enough information about illegal drugs,” said Brigadier Hareb. “Dubai Police embraced 40 addicted youngsters this year and referred them to rehabilitation centres without legal action to protect their future. Last year, police embraced 120 youngsters,” he added.
