The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced a Syrian visitor to life in jail for possessing for trade purpose 4.17 million capsules of amphetamine.
The convict HAS, 29, was also ordered to pay Dh50,000 and will be deported after serving the jail term.
He was also charged with possessing 75 capsules of diazepam and other nine capsules containing dextroprpoxyphene and using mind-altering substances.
In previous hearings the accused has confessed to possessing drugs for personal use but denied possessing drugs for trade purpose.
Waleed Ali Khalifa Al Fuqaie, head of Drug Prosecution at Dubai Public Prosecution, who had earlier described the case as the biggest ever investigated since the establishment of Drugs Prosecution last September, asked the court to implement toughest penalty, which is life sentence and Dh200,000 fine against the accused.
According to the accusation sheet, HAS was arrested following a tip-off made to police about him expecting a massive consignment of medicine. The consignment, which reached Al Hamriya Port, was planned to be sold to a party before being exported to Saudi Arabia.
HAS, who was arrested in November 2009, was under surveillance since he arrived in the country through Sharjah Airport. He rented a flat in Al Baraha and a warehouse in the Al Qusais areas and bought cartons to store the capsules, an Anti-Narcotics Drug officer testified.