DUBAI: A truck driver charged with smuggling 845g of methamphetamine in a consignment he was transporting to Saudi Arabia has claimed that he was framed.
Drug enforcement officers allegedly discovered 28 nylon bags containing the methamphetamine hidden in the 28-year-old Pakistani driver’s truck in January.
Prosecutors sought the life sentence against the defendant, accusing him of possessing mind-altering substances for promotional purposes.
Appearing before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday, the defendant told presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat that he was a heavy truck driver and transported consignments daily. “Someone is trying to frame me. I was tasked to take that consignment, but I did not know that someone had planted the banned substances in the truck. I am being framed …,” he said.
The court modified the accusation from possessing banned substances for promotional intent to possession without intent.
“The suspect now faces the accusation of possessing methamphetamine without intent,” judge Lat said.
An anti-narcotics lieutenant told prosecutors that the defendant was arrested following an informant’s tip that he was about to smuggle drugs outside the UAE.
“The informant alerted us that the defendant was present in the fruits and vegetables market in Ras Al Khor… the suspect was stopped near Jebel Ali. When asked if he was carrying drugs, he confessed that he had a bag full of methamphetamine. We searched the heavy truck and found the banned substances. Upon confrontation, the driver alleged that he got paid Dh5,000 to take the banned substance to Saudi Arabia,” he said.
A ruling will be heard on June 18.
