3 on trial for having 4 million drug tablets

Three Syrians allegedly possessed more than four million amphetamine tablets that weighed a total of 640.4kg which they were planning to transport to Saudi Arabia, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

According to the records, in September 2013, OJ, 30, Syrian PRO, met a compatriot known as ‘Abu Mohammed’ in Sharjah.

Abu Mohammed asked him to find a driver to transport large quantities of drug tablets to Saudi Arabia. OJ was promised Dh25,000 for his help.

“I agreed,  searched for a driver and found one who agreed to transport the drugs to Saudi Arabia for Dh25,000 if the operation is successful,” OJ told investigators.

The driver was asked to hand over his passport that was kept in custody of the gang to guarantee that he would not disappear with the drugs .

The driver informed Dubai Police about the deal and the police asked him to carry on with OJ to help arrest the gang.

At 6.30pm on September 30, the informer or ‘transporter’ received a phone call from OJ who asked him to meet to discuss some details of the operation.

The two met in a coffee shop in Abu Hail and agreed that the ‘transporter’ would arrange a car and leave it open with its keys inside in a sandy place in Qusais. OJ told the ‘transporter’ that some men will load the car with drugs and then he will tell him when to go and drive it to Saudi Arabia.

On the following day, the two met and the ‘transporter’ handed OJ his passport as guarantee. Then he drove a car, checked previously by the police, to the sandy area where he parked it.

The meetings and movements of both the informer and OJ were under close supervision of a number of police squads.

“While we were observing the informer’s car, we saw two men come in a car and stop near the parked vehicle. They opened the car and searched before one of them drove it into a nearby warehouse. After about 15 minutes, the car was driven out of the warehouse and parked at its previous location. Then he got into the car he came in and drove away with the other man.

“Police stopped the two men a few metres away and arrested them after confronting them with the car that they had loaded with drugs,” testified the police officer.

Searching the warehouse, police confiscated large quantities of drugs. The total confiscated number of amphetamine tablets was 4,121,128 that weighed 640.4kg.

One of the two men, IA, 35, who holds an investor’s visa, admitted that he had been asked by a man called Abu Saud in Lebanon to lease a store in Dubai and sent him Dh85,000 for this purpose.

“After leasing the store, Abu Saud sent me three cars that contained large quantities of drugs and asked me to unload them in the warehouse.

“After a month and a half, the man in Lebanon asked me to buy sacks to distribute and pack the drug tablets. After packing the tablets, I was to put not more than 120kg in each bag,” IA admitted to investigators.

“On October 1, Abu Saud asked me to take a car that was parked in Qusais and asked me to put one bag in it. I went to the warehouse with MA and after putting a bag in the car, we were arrested,” IA told investigators.

However, MA, 30, driver, denied any knowledge about the drugs and claimed that he was just accompanying IA and did not know what the latter did.

Simultaneous to the arrest of IA and MA, another police squad arrested OJ.

OJ claimed that he was just a mediator between Abu Mohammed and the transporter.

Police confiscated the passport of the ‘transporter’ or the police informer in OJ’s car.

The jury amended the accusation filed by Dubai Prosecution from possessing drugs for trade purpose to just possessing drugs.

The accused denied the accusation and the court will reconvene on July 6 for defence proceedings.
 

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