Dubai: Tourist gets 10 years sentence after two months of claimed innocence

The Dubai Court of Appeal has sentenced an Asian tourist to 10 years in jail for smuggling four kilograms of Marijuana  drug in plastic bags and hiding them in his suitcase. The verdict comes two months after the defendant received an acquittal from the criminal court.

Investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed that a Dubai customs inspector suspected the defendant as he entered Dubai airport. Therefore, his bag was searched and was found to contain plastic bags with Marijuana wrapped in duct tape. The man claimed that someone in his country gave him these bags to be delivered to a friend in Dubai, stressing that he did not intend to smuggle or promote them.

The criminal court in Dubai acquitted the man, but the prosecution appealed against the verdict. The court of appeal sentenced him to 10 years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams.