Businessman found with 13kg of cannabis seeds at Dubai airport is not guilty

Iranian who said the seeds were food for birds to walk free after court ruling.

DUBAI // A businessman who said he did not know that cannabis seeds were banned in the UAE when he was found with more than 13kg of them on arrival in Dubai has been found not guilty.

Dubai Criminal Court made the ruling on Tuesday after 55-year-old Iranian AZ had been charged with smuggling and possession of the seeds on June 27 last year, with a further charge of having the intent to supply to others having already been dropped by the court.

Prosecutors said that on the date of the incident a customs inspector at Dubai airport thought there was something odd with the Iranian’s bag when it went through the X-ray scanner.

“I suspected in a plastic bag inside his luggage that contained seeds and when I asked him about it he said it was food for birds and that if it was banned in Dubai, he didn’t know that,” testified customs inspector AS, 27.

She said he told her that he brought the seeds for a friend in Dubai. He was referred to airport police who seized the seeds and apprehended the man but he will now walk free after the ruling.