Muscat: The Criminal Court in Muscat has sentenced 31 drug dealers to five years in jail each after hearing each case separately.
According to Azzman tabloid, the 31 defendants were brought to court after investigations by public prosecutors that followed arrests by the Royal Oman police.
The Arabic daily reported that an accused was sentenced for selling six capsules for 900 Omani riyals (Dh8,587). The police found 50 capsules in his house but the defendant maintained that he was not involved in trafficking but had kept the drugs for personal use.
In another case, three of the 31 suspects presented by the Public Prosecution in court, were caught after a dramatic chase through the streets of Muscat. The Arabic daily claimed that the Prosecution informed the court that the police had to fire three bullets to flatten the car tyres following a hot chase through the Azaiba suburb in Muscat to arrest the three suspects, whose identity was not revealed.
The police had kept a watch on one of the accused, who was waiting at the Ghubra Roundabout in a northern district of Muscat. Two of the three alleged drug traffickers denied their involvement when caught by the police with the third accused in possession of drug capsules.
The two claimed that they had merely given a lift to the third accused, who wanted to go to the Royal Hospital. However, the police officer who made the arrests after the chase testified in the court that the three were part of a gang and the first accused was picked up by the two other suspects and were not flagged down for a lift as claimed by the two defendants.
