Tourist found not guilty of smoking marijuana in Dubai hotel room

DUBAI // A tourist has been found not guilty of smoking marijuana in her Jumeirah hotel room.

Brazilian C O told the presiding judge at the Dubai Criminal Court that she smoked the drug while in Mexico and claimed the marijuana found in her room was not hers.

Prosecutors charged the 23-year-old with possession and consumption of drugs on January 17 this year. She did not enter a plea at the time because she does not speak English or Arabic.

When a Portuguese translator was brought to the court, C O told the judge that the drugs were not hers and that she did not bring them into the country.

“The drugs don’t belong to me, women were in my hotel room that day and maybe it was theirs,” she said.

Police officer R H told prosecutors he found a plastic bag containing marijuana and a machine used to making cigarettes, as well as cigarette papers and another machine used for cutting the drug in the hotel room.

“We asked her where did she get them from, and she told us that she brought them from Mexico,” said the officer.

The officer said C O told him that she smokes marijuana because she is skinny and the drug increases her appetite for food.