Dubai: A visitor who confessed to swallowing illegal drug pills with yoghurt to smuggle it into the UAE was sentenced to seven years in jail, a Dubai Court of First Instance heard.
The 27-year-old Afghan defendant arrived in Dubai International Airport in March 2019 carrying 17 methamphetamine pills weighing 181 grams.
He was walking in the Bur Dubai area when he fell asleep near a building. A security guard who noticed him alerted the Dubai Police.
An Emirati policeman testified that the defendant was brought to the Bur Dubai police station after a complaint from the security guard. He said that the defendant wasn’t in his normal senses, was nervous and couldn’t walk straight.
“He kept asking for water to drink and wasn’t walking or sitting normally. He was lying down on a chair at the police station and refused to sit up. He confessed to me that he swallowed drug pills with yoghurt to deliver it to an unknown person in the country for some money,” said the policeman in records.
A patrol from the Anti-narcotic Department in Dubai Police arrived at the police station and detained the defendant.
According to Dubai Public Prosecution, the defendant denied knowing the nature of the pills he had swallowed and that he had agreed to smuggle them for $1,500 (Dh5,510).
The forensic lab report confirmed that the plastic pills contained 181 grams of methamphetamine, which is on the prohibited drugs list.
The defendant was charged with possessing and smuggling illegal drugs. He confessed to the charge in the courtroom earlier.
The court fined him Dh50,000 and ordered to deport him after serving his seven year jail term.
The verdict will be a subject for appeal within 15 days.
