Dubai: 2 men convicted of buying, possessing heroin; banned from making any bank transfers for two years

The Misdemeanours Court penalised two Gulf nationals who transferred money to a bank account belonging to a drug dealer to buy heroin and fined them Dh10,000 each. The court also ordered to prevent them from making any bank transfers for two years without obtaining permission from the Central Bank.

The two accused were arrested during an investigation led by the anti-narcotic agencies to track and control those involved in purchasing narcotic substances through what is known as "anonymous messages".

Sellers randomly send these messages from outside the country and offer their drugs, while addicts acquire them by transferring money through bank accounts. Upon receiving the money, dealers send a map of the drug site through the social networking site WhatsApp so the abuser can obtain it without meeting the promoter.

The police referred the two accused, who bought a quantity of heroin in this manner and transferred sums of money to one of these suspicious accounts. After the arrest, their blood samples were examined, and traces of banned substance was found in their body.

The investigations conducted by the General Department for Drug Control at the Dubai Police concluded that both defendants used narcotics and psychotropic substances. The first accused deposited an amount of Dh2,000, while the second deposited Dh900 in a bank account used by drug dealers overseas to collect money from addicts in the Emirates. Police obtained permission from the Public Prosecution to arrest them and search their homes and cars.

The police found, in the pocket of the first, a plastic bag containing a substance that has heroin. Two bags containing a similar banned substance were found in the second room. The accused were referred to the Public Prosecution and from there to the court misdemeanours.

During interrogation, they admitted possession of a narcotic substance, abuse, and transferring funds with the intent to obtain drugs for personal use. The court convicted them and penalised a fine of Dh10,000 each.

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