Man fined Dh10,000 for selling drugs via WhatsApp in Dubai

Dubai - The court also ordered the deportation of the man - who works as a driver.

A man, who peddled drugs through WhatsApp, has been ordered to pay a Dh10,000 fine by a Dubai court.
The Court of First Instance found the 41-year-old Pakistani, who worked as a driver, guilty of peddling drugs by sending messages on WhatsApp. The court also ordered his deportation.
The court cleared him of the charge of possessing narcotics.
The arrest was made on December 26, 2017, in Al Muraqqabat area. "We had a reliable source tipping us off that the accused was taking and possessing drugs for peddling at his place in Al Waheeda," a lieutenant with the Dubai Police anti-narcotics division said.
"We raided his place and he was found with an amount of Dh16,950 in his pocket, which we suspected he made from selling drugs."
The accused claimed to the police that the money was from selling his car while he was detained at the central jail about three weeks earlier.
"However, our criminal database showed that he got released from jail on May 27, 2017. He became tense when confronted with that information and acted elusively." 
"Our information was that he used social media to sell drugs. He was referred to the general directorate of criminal evidence for drug tests."
Several conversations and voice notes, in which uncommon words were used, most probably to purchase drugs, in addition to pictures of white powder were found stored in the defendant's mobile phone which was examined by the forensics team. According to the crime lab report, the driver's urine sample tested positive for traces of morphine and codeine.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai