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Dubai: Three passengers who were caught carrying tiny amounts of drugs [less than 0.9 grams], in three separate cases, will each have to spend four years in jail.
The Dubai Court of First Instance found the two Iranians and French male defendants guilty of illegally bringing in small amounts of banned substances for personal use. The three accused will be deported after serving their terms.
The Public Prosecution charged Frenchman, A.J., 27, Iranian engineer, K.G., 56, and his compatriot visitor, K.R., 51, with smuggling and possessing 0.76 grams of hashish, 0.02 grams of opium and 0.8 grams of opium respectively.
In the first case, inspector A.K. caught the Frenchman carrying hashish leftovers which he found in the pocket of a handbag. He confessed to his charges.
Broken plastic
In the second case, inspector R.Z., 24, found that the engineer, K.G. had hidden opium in his suit bag. Records said the accused claimed at first that the substance could be very tiny pieces of broken plastic, before he later confessed that it was opium.
In the third case, customs officer A.M. arrested K.R. for illegally bringing in opium in a small nylon sack which he inserted in his rectum. He also confessed to the charges.
The initial verdicts in the three separate cases are still subject to appeal.
Customs inspectors at Dubai International Airport caught the three accused on different occasions.
Narcotics
Dubai Appeals Court judge Mahmoud Fahmi told Gulf News last week that there has been an increase in the number of cases involving suspects carrying tiny quantities of drugs, especially at the airport.
"Drug enforcement officers deal with smugglers sternly. When it comes to narcotics, the quantity of drugs being smuggled is immaterial and enforcement officers are not flexible. Officers are working to eliminate drug smugglers even if the suspect is carrying what we call traces of narcotics."
Visitor goes to jail for marijuana possession
A British visitor will spend four years behind prison bars for illegally bringing in 1.18 grams of marijuana which he concealed in his shoe.
The 30-year-old Briton, M.S., was on a London-based aircraft which was forced to land in Dubai following a technical glitch.
A customs inspector at Dubai airport's transit counter caught M.S. who pleaded guilty.
The accused said he inserted the marijuana in his shoe and claimed he concealed it away from airport customs in London.
M.S. who was visiting his sick mother in Bangladesh will be deported after serving his punishment which is still subject to appeal.
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