DUBAI // A man from Saudi Arabia who was caught with almost 200 kilograms of amphetamine tablets and claimed the drugs were for his own personal use has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Dubai Criminal Court convicted the the 37-year-old of possessing 186.8kg of drugs to sell and with using drugs. He denied the first charge but admitted the second.
Police were tipped off about the defendant on January 30 and he was arrested at his home in Al Muwaihat, Ajman.
An Emirati captain with Dubai Police’s anti-narcotics department said he saw the man get into a taxi.
"We stopped the cab and apprehended him then found amphetamine tablets in his pocket," the officer said, adding that the defendant admitted to having more drugs at his home and in his car.
"We found travel bags. Once opened, we saw hundreds of thousands of amphetamine tablets," the officer said.
The defendant said he had picked up the drugs from a man in Al Rigga in Dubai after a receiving a call from a supplier in Saudi.
He was fined Dh50,000 and will be deported after serving his prison term.
