Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

An Asian man was found to be in possession of narcotic substances, which he had obtained from an unidentified individual via a social media application. He was subsequently observed using these substances with his wife.

The Criminal Court in Dubai handed down a five-year prison sentence, a fine of Dhs50,000, and deportation from the country to the man, after which the Misdemeanours Court also convicted his wife and imposed a fine of Dhs5,000, in addition to the confiscation of the seized items.

The details of the case date back to April of last year, when the Dubai Police received information indicating that the defendant's wife, an Asian woman, was in possession of narcotics and consuming them at his residence in the Al Marqabat area.

A police officer subsequently confirmed that the information was accurate and that she was arrested inside her residence.

A team from the Anti-Narcotics Department searched the house, where a scroll containing methamphetamine had been found. Furthermore, the woman’s husband was observed exhibiting slurred speech and an abnormal state of fear and hesitation.

Notably, he did not display the olfactory characteristics commonly associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Accordingly, the suspects were taken into custody and subsequently transferred to the Dubai Police Forensic Laboratory.

The forensic laboratory report on the examination of the defendants' sample demonstrated the presence of two compounds (amphetamine, methamphetamine), which are psychotropic substances enumerated in the schedule of drugs in the Federal Law of 2021 on combating narcotic substances and psychotropic substances.

Additionally, the report indicated that the substances seized from the defendants' possession are narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

In interrogation, the Asian man admitted that he had obtained the drugs in question from an unknown person via a social networking application. He further alleged that he had agreed with the latter to send Dhs200 to a bank account and to receive the drugs in return for the coordinates of a specified location.

The wife conceded that she had procured the narcotics at no cost from her husband and had abused them with him at their residence prior to her apprehension.

Furthermore, she confessed that all the seized items had been obtained by her husband from a drug dealer via a social networking application.

The court ruled that the convict had provided his wife, the second convict, with narcotics for use without remuneration.

Consequently, the requisite elements of the crime had been established against him, in addition to the charges of narcotics possession and depositing money in the account of an unknown person with the intention of committing a crime involving the use of psychotropic substances.

The court therefore convicted him and issued the aforementioned verdict.