Duo Jailed Over Smuggling 5kg Marijuana

A woman visitor and a worker have been jailed for 10 years each for smuggling 5kg of marijuana that they possessed for promotional purposes in Dubai.

The 34-year-old Nigerian woman carried a bag loaded with four plastic pouches of marijuana from her homeland before she was caught and stopped at the airport in May.

Meanwhile law enforcement officers stopped the 23-year-old Nigerian worker, who was behaving suspiciously outside Dubai International Airport and after it was discovered that his work permit had expired.

When asked what he was doing outside the airport, the worker told the officers that he was waiting for his countrywoman to collect a bag from her.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Nigerian couple of smuggling and possessing drugs for promotional purposes.

Presiding judge Urfan Omar also fined the duo Dh50,000 each.

According to Monday’s ruling, the defendants will be deported following the completion of their punishments.

The accused had both pleaded not guilty in court.

The Nigerians smuggled four plastic pouches, according to records, of a grasslike substances [marijuana] for promotional purposes. The 23-year-old was accused of consuming hashish.

“I did not possess the drug … but yes I consumed hashish for medical purposes since I suffer from a thigh injury,” he told the court.

The woman only said no.

A woman customs inspector at the airport testified that she found the drugs hidden in the woman’s luggage when she searched her.

“I found a big black bag that contained four plastic pouches … the four pouches were taped together and placed in a dough. When I asked the suspect about the findings, she claimed that she did not know what was that. She claimed that a man handed her the bag at the airport in Nigeria and asked her to give it to someone in Dubai,” the inspector said.

A police lieutenant said the 23-year-old defendant was referred to them following his arrest near the airport.

“After he claimed that he was waiting for a Nigerian woman, we related that to the arrest of the 34-year-old, who turned out to be the concerned woman. The 23-year-old said his countryman phoned him from Nigeria and asked him to wait for the woman at the airport. He was supposed to pick up the bag and hand it over to a Pakistani man in Ajman for Dh1,000. The male defendant said he waited for the woman for five hours but she did not come out because she was detained,” testified the lieutenant.

Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.

source : gulfnews