Two jailed in Dubai for possessing 640kg of pills

Two men have been jailed for possessing 640 kilograms of amphetamine pills after prosecutors at the Court of Appeal overturned a not guilty verdict.

DUBAI // Two Syrians have been jailed for possessing 640 kilograms of amphetamine pills after prosecutors at the Court of Appeal overturned their acquittal.

O A, 30, and E A, 35, were sentenced to three years in prison and fined Dh50,000 for possessing the drugs with intent to sell.

In January, the men were found not guilty by the Dubai Criminal Court.

Their compatriot, M Z, 30, was acquitted by both courts. Two other suspects are at large.

Prosecutors said O A confessed during interrogation that he had met Syrian A M in Sharjah.

The man asked him to find a driver willing to deliver the pills to Saudi Arabia in return for Dh25,000.

The driver O A hired, however, was a police informant. O A was arrested at an Abu Hail cafe. He later told prosecutors that recruiting the driver was his only role in the operation.

E A told prosecutors that he was contacted by a man in Lebanon identified as A S who had paid him Dh85,000 to rent a warehouse in Dubai.

In October 2013, police raided the warehouse where they found the pills and arrested O A and E A.

O A was also charged with using drugs. O A and E A will be deported after completing their sentences.