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3 get life term for drug trafficking

An Egyptian, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing and trafficking in narcotics, told the police that he had turned to the crime out of poverty.

He and two others were sentenced to life in prison for trying to sell tramadol pills to an undercover cop.

A Court of First Instance bench, presided by Judge Mohammed Jamal Kamel, also slapped each of the three defendants with a fine of Dh50,000 on Tuesday. They will be deported after completing their 25-year prison sentences.

According to the prosecution records, the three expatriates tried to sell the tramadol pills to an undercover police officer. Two of the defendants, aged 25 and 31, met the undercover police officer in his car in Muraqqabat where they tried to sell him a large quantity of the pills for Dh10,000.

A Dubai Police anti-narcotics officer told the prosecutor that in September 2011, they had acted on a tip-off that the defendants possessed a large number of tramadol pills, which they were about to sell. As many as 2,071 tramadol tablets were seized from them when the anti-narcotics officers raided their place in Muraqqabat.

They all faced the charge of drug trafficking while the 25-year-old defendant was also charged with using and possessing tramadol and facilitating its use by the third accused, aged 32.

The latter also faced a charge of using narcotics.

The anti-narcotics officer quoted the 25-year-old accused as saying during police interrogation that he was poor and wanted to earn his living by selling tramadol pills, alleging it was the first time he ever tried to sell them.

The verdict can be appealed within 15 days at the Court of Appeal.

mary@khaleejtimes.com