• Home
• /
• Crime

Cassation Court upholds
 drug dealer’s life term

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation on Monday upheld the life sentence awarded to a GCC national for drug smuggling and trafficking.

The court also upheld his one-year additional jail sentence for using a mind-altering substance and another six months in jail for driving under the influence of drugs.

According to the court records, the defendant was caught while he pushing a quantity of hashish worth Dh5,000 to an undercover policeman in plainclothes, who posed as a buyer.

On searching the accused, 213.9 grams of hashish were found in his pocket. The police had videographed the deal struck between the undercover agent and the drug dealer. His urine sample also tested positive for morphine and codeine.

The Public Prosecution referred him to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance, which found him guilty of smuggling and trafficking in hashish. The court sentenced him to life in jail, and another year in jail for consuming a mind-altering drug and six months more for driving under the influence of narcotics. The lower court’s ruling was upheld by the Appellate Court.

The accused moved the Court of Cassation contending that he brought the narcotics from a nearby country for his personal use. He said the quantity seized from him was too small for trading.

He argued that the amount of Dh5,000 seized from him was an illogical price for such a small quantity of hashish and that it disproves the alleged deal with the undercover sleuth. The accused in his plea expressed doubts about the investigation and the arrest warrant issued by the prosecution.

In its ruling on Monday, the Court of Cassation rejected his pleas.

— news@khaleejtimes.com