Dubai: A merchant has been accused of possessing 10 pouches of cocaine that drug enforcement officers seized from him at a luxurious hotel in Palm Jumeirah.
Dubai Police’s anti-narcotics department were said to have been alerted by an informant that the 38-year-old merchant possessed and consumed drugs at his hotel room in January.
A police team obtained a prosecutor’s search and arrest warrant and then headed to the hotel and stopped the Armenian merchant after spotting him in the lobby.
Upon carrying out a search, according to records, anti-narcotics policemen found two pouches of cocaine hidden in the left pocket of the merchant’s jacket.
Drugs prosecutors charged the suspect with possessing 10 pouches of cocaine weighing 113 grams.
The 38-year-old suspect pleaded guilty before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
“I did not possess 10 pouches, but I only had two,” he argued before presiding judge Urfan Omar.
An anti-narcotics police lieutenant testified to prosecutors that a police team was dispatched to the hotel and apprehended the Armenian at 10.30pm.
“We stopped the suspect once we saw him in the lobby, we identified ourselves and presented the prosecutors’ warrant. Two pouches were found in his pocket. Then he accompanied us to his room, in which we found eight more pouches that had been wrapped up inside a small nylon sack. The sack was hidden inside the drawer. The pouches had been wrapped in a way that made them look like they were ready to be distributed. We also seized bank notes in various currencies that were believed to have been the proceeds of selling drugs. The suspect was taken into immediate custody and sent for a drug test,” the lieutenant told prosecutors.
Available records did not mention whether the suspect had tested positive for drugs following his drug test.
Presiding judge Omar adjourned the case to hear prosecution witnesses when the court reconvenes on March 22.
