DUBAI // Two men have lost their appeal against a seven-year jail term they were initially handed by Dubai Criminal Court for possessing more than two million methamphetamine tablets.
Syrians A A, 44, and M J, 32, hid 2,041,583 pills, smuggled into the country inside wooden chandeliers, in an Umm Al Quwain warehouse in January, with the intention of selling them.
Prosecutors told both criminal and appeal courts that A A had received a shipment of drugs in return for Dh250,000, and was arrested along with his partner near Dubai Festival City, following a tip-off to Dubai Police.
A police officer told the court: “We stopped the car and told them we are anti-narcotics agents and we have a search warrant.”
The younger defendant, who was driving, tried to escape and crashed into a police car before both men were apprehended.
“We found keys and Dh13,800 on A A when we searched him,” the policeman added. “He told us that the keys were for a warehouse in the industrial area in UAQ, where they stored wooden chandeliers.”
Another officer testified that M J had rented the warehouse under his name and A A rented a lorry to transfer the drugs from Dubai airport to the warehouse.
Last May, the pair pleaded not guilty to possession with the intent to sell. They were sentenced to seven years and fined Dh50,000 each. They were also ordered to be deported.
In June, both men appealed the verdict and, this month, Dubai Appeals Court upheld their sentences.
salamir@thenational.ae
