Dubai: Instagram star pretends to be Emirati smoking cannabis in viral video, gets arrested

Dubai - Al Mansouri said it was important to protect society from such models that hide behind the UAE national dress and encourage youngsters to violate laws.

By Web report

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Published: Wed 30 Jun 2021, 3:28 AM

A UAE-based social media star, who pretended to be an Emirati smoking hashish in a viral video, will be deported, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

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Dubai Police said the resident was arrested for smoking a hashish cigarette in a live video on social media.

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Major General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs at Dubai Police, explained that the young man was not expecting authorities to be meticulously watching the digital space.

The attraction of quick fame on social media prompted him to show off and smoke cannabis on one of his social media accounts without "the slightest sense of responsibility or respect for the laws", he added.

Authorities from the General Department of Narcotics Control, however, stepped in quickly and arrested him on charges of destructive behaviour.

Al Mansouri said it was important to protect society from such models that hide behind the UAE national dress and encourage youngsters to violate laws.

He also pointed out that there is a strong correlation between exposure to pictures and videos of drug use and the subsequent start of using them. Celebrities who promote the use of drugs or psychotropic substances on social media give young people the idea that they are fun, thus adding to the pressure on impressionable minds to try such substances.

However, drugs and psychotropic substances are a dangerous scourge that destroys lives, said Al Mansouri.

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Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

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