Man jailed for four years in Dubai for 0.003grammes of Cannabis

rubadub

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436226-details/Briton+jailed+in+Dubai+after+officials+find+cannabis+weighing+less+than+a+grain+of+sugar+under+his+shoe/article.do

A father-of-three who was found with a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes has been sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison.

Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.

A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes.

Dubai International Airport is a major hub for the Middle East and thousands of Britons pass through it every year to holiday in the glamorous beach and shopping haven.

But many of those tourists and business travellers are likely to be unaware of the strict zero-tolerance drugs policy in the UAE.

One man has even been jailed for possession of three poppy seeds left over from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow Airport. Painkiller codeine is also banned.

If suspicious of a traveller, customs officials can use high-tech equipment to uncover even the slightest trace of drugs.

Mr Brown was detained and arrested in September last year and has been held in a cell with three other men in the city prison ever since.

This week the youth worker, who has two young children and a partner at home in Smethwick, West Midlands, was sentenced to four years in prison.

A 25-year-old Briton who was found with a similar speck in one pocket as he arrived on holiday has been awaiting sentence since November.

Meanwhile a Big Brother TV executive has so far been held without charge for five days after being arrested for possessing the health supplement melatonin.

The authorities claim to have discovered 0.01g of hashish in his luggage.

Last night Mr Brown's brother Lee said his case "defied belief".

"For that sort of amount common sense should prevail, from where it was found it was obviously something that had been crushed on the floor - it could have come from anywhere."

Rastafarian Mr Brown had been returning from a short trip to Ethiopia, where one of his children lives and where he owns property.

He was travelling with his partner Imani, who was also stopped and detained for more than a week.

Normally he flew direct to and from the UK, but decided to stop off in Dubai.

"He was incensed when he called me," said driving instructor Lee, 57. "It would be funny if the circumstances weren't so unpleasant.

"Bugs are crawling out of his mattress when he's sleeping. His family are frantic with worry and can't call him."

Last night campaign group Fair Trials International advised visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to "take extreme caution".

Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen said: "We have seen a steep increase in such cases over the last 18 months.

"Customs authorities are using highly sensitive new equipment to conduct extremely thorough searches on travellers and if they find any amount - no matter how minute - it will be enough to attract a mandatory four-year prison sentence."

Mrs Wolthuizen added: "We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for 'possession' of three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow.

Cat Le-Huy



"What many travellers may not realise is that they can be deemed to be in possession of such banned substances if they can be detected in their urine or bloodstream, or even in tiny, trace amounts on their person."

Only two months after Mr Brown was stopped economics graduate Robert Dalton was detained in almost identical circumstances.

Mr Dalton, from Gravesend, on Kent was with two friends when he was stopped and asked to empty his pockets.

Officials found 0.03g of cannabis in a small amount of fluff. He is currently on trial and if convicted, is likely receive a four-year prison sentence.

Last night his brother Peter, 26, told how it took 24 hours to find out why he had been stopped.

"As we understand, the amount of cannabis was barely visible to the human eye and was at the bottom of the pocket of an old pair of jeans.

"He's not a drug user, but he goes clubbing and the speck was so small."

Last week Cat Le-Huy, a London-based German national, was arrested on arrival at the airport.

Mr Le-Huy, 31, head of technology with Big Brother production company Endemol, was arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs after customs officers found melatonin, a health supplement used for jet lag available over the counter both in Dubai and in the US.

Authorities also claim they discovered fragments in one of his bags which they believe to be hashish. Fair Trials International said the amount was 0.01g.

Charities now say travelers must be alerted to the risks they face if they are not completely clean of any banned substance or do not have a prescription for their medication.

Fair Trials International will publish a comprehensive list of banned pharmaceuticals on their website tomorrow. This can be found at www.fairtrials.net

The lad with a hand in Big Brother deserves to hang!

truecrippler

What le fook... seriously can anything be done? That's fairly stupid and way over the top strict. Small bits of hash like the bits found can blow in the wind ffs, it can get caught up anywhere, even in your hair.

Jahsus to that man.

Black Swan

Did he get stoned in Dubai?

truecrippler

He probably will in their prisons.

Laslo

*badum tish*

m83

I am f*cking incensed to hear this ****. How do they get away with it? It's beyond ridiculous, f*cking cnuts! This has ruined my evening!

Morlar

Crikey can you imagine what they would have done to someone like hunter s thompson ? I think Amy winehouse should go on tour over there.

GhostInTheRuins

Hmm, I'd really like to see what the "highly sensitive new equipment" is that can detect trace amounts like that.

bronte

Ah crap! The parents are away to Abu Dhabi in a few days! :eek: Now I'm worried!

Bob the Builder

If only we could ban oil here.... they wouldn't care, but if USA followed suit, they'd be fecked then

buckfast4me

crazy arabs

admiralofthefleet

feckin' druggie

truecrippler

bronte wrote: »

Ah crap! The parents are away to Abu Dhabi in a few days! :eek: Now I'm worried!

Free gaff in bronte's for the next 4 years.

oceanclub

"Fundamentalist Islamic dictatorship doesn't like drugs" shocker.

P.

Rb

Lol, crazy bastards.

Kintarō Hattori

Wow that is some fairly shocking stuff. How do they think this is a positive thing at all. Drive all the tourists away plus it'll do wonders for the image of islam.

Laslo

Damn right IMO. He had drugs on him, end of story.















































No, I don't really believe that.

Senna

Did they have serious drug trafficking problems and are now going OT to fight it?
or are they all just bananas?

Kintarō Hattori

Senna wrote: »

Did they have serious drug trafficking problems and are now going OT to fight it?
or are they all just bananas?

I think it might be the latter.

I take it there isn't a strong Reggae/dub scene over there?

m83

NoDrama wrote: »

I take it there isn't a strong Reggae/dub scene over there?

Naaah mate, they're mad for UK Garabage!

I guffawed!

bronte

truecrippler wrote: »

Free gaff in bronte's for the next 4 years.

Yeah Right!

monkeyfudge

A Rastafarian with cannabis? What's the world coming to?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Splinter

jeez thats harsh... mind you, if you wanna police a country...thats one way to do it

TerrorFirmer

Is there no way to appeal that? Surely, something can be done with help from the government?

bill_ashmount

Bunch of muppets. It's amazing how dumb the human race can get.

Dave!

What a sneak! Thinks he can smuggle his drugs in his shoes and not get away with it? Think again, son.

Baudelaire

That's fcuking crazy, I don't part take of any illegal drugs and am totally against them but even I think that's totally nuts, it's shocking that any country can get away with that, I agree with their zero tolerence policy but there has to be some common sense applied too. They're just all mad fcukers over there :rolleyes:

Bambaata

thats one part of the world i'll nver visit so and i dont touch the stuff but the coke on euro notes wud probably be enough

FunkZ

What a country of nutjobs, I know a lad from there, nutjob.

Sleepy

Mr.S wrote: »

remember that study that showed most of the Irish euro notes had cocaine residue or something on them?

what if they checked your wallet and saw that

First thing that came into my head was that they don't seem to have any problem with the inflow of Euro / US Dollar Notes which have traces of coke on the majority of them.

A question for any followers of Islam on this forum: with behaviour like this from an Islamic country that's regarded as pretty moderate compared to the likes of Iran etc. can you see why so many westerners are starting to hear 'Muslim' as a 'scary' word?

biko

Scratches Saudi from list of places to go, ever.

To sleepy - I think Saudi Arabia Sharia Law is considered to be very harsh, not moderate. Do you have links?

kmick

Dubai
Morocco
Majorca
Iraq

Places to strike off your list of places to see before you die. Dubai moves into first place.

whiskeyman

Solitaryman666 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

+1

Was thinking of bringing the g/f here.
Gonna head somewhere else, and won't be giving any money to a country as f*cked up as that.

TJJP

No smoke without fire.

Mweelrea

monkeyfudge wrote: »

A Rastafarian with cannabis? What's the world coming to?

lol

MrJoeSoap

I was in Dubai last summer for a day, and Abu Dhabi the year previous, wearing runners that had probably got bits of everything on them from a few months wear in Australian and Thai pubs and clubs, man do I feel lucky! The country, the religion, the law, its all ridiculous. How they can see this arrest and prosecution as rational is beyond me. And if they don't see it as rational and they are just arresting Western people for the sake of it then it speaks volumes about their mindsets.

irishconvert

Sleepy wrote: »

A question for any followers of Islam on this forum: with behaviour like this from an Islamic country that's regarded as pretty moderate compared to the likes of Iran etc. can you see why so many westerners are starting to hear 'Muslim' as a 'scary' word?

That comment is almost as stupid as the decision by the Dubai authorities.

FunkZ

whiskeyman wrote: »

+1

Was thinking of bringing the g/f here.
Gonna head somewhere else, and won't be giving any money to a country as f*cked up as that.

Bring her to Amsterdam, the Saudis will be losing a tiny but of money to a decent country. :cool:

MrJoeSoap

irishconvert wrote: »

That comment is almost as stupid as the decision by the Dubai authorities.

I 100% agree with Sleepy.

irishconvert

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

I 100% agree with Sleepy.

I agree they (Dubai authorities) are way over the top here but why would that make you scared of Muslims in general?????? There are stupid people from all religions.

MrJoeSoap

irishconvert wrote: »

I agree they (Dubai authorities) are way over the top here but why would that make you scared of Muslims in general?????? There are stupid people from all religions.

Of course there are, but I wouldn't feel at risk of being jailed for nothing (which is what this is btw) in non-Muslim countries really.

I wouldn't be scared of Muslims in general, but Muslim states in general, yes.

irishconvert

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Of course there are, but I wouldn't feel at risk of being jailed for nothing (which is what this is btw) in non-Muslim countries really.

I'm sure this man (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1305421,00.html) didn't feel at risk of being jailed for nothing in a Christan country either. Neither did the Guildford four or Birmingham six.

MrJoeSoap

irishconvert wrote: »

I'm sure this man (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1305421,00.html) didn't feel at risk of being jailed for nothing in a Christan country either. Neither did the Guildford four or Birmingham six.

Nope, but then again, I've been to Birmingham and not felt threatened in the slightest. Dubai was another story. Though it might have been the 45 degree heat that did it to me.

LouOB

And people then wonder why I DONT ever want to go 'travelling' for the year

biko

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Of course there are, but I wouldn't feel at risk of being jailed for nothing (which is what this is btw) in non-Muslim countries really.

Drug laws abroad
There are currently more than 1,500 Britons in foreign jails for drug offences. Before you pack that ounce, you may want to read on.

Death penalty
Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Heavy prison sentences
Cyprus: zero tolerance policy towards drugs and possession will usually lead to a hefty fine or even life imprisonment
Greece: possession of even small quantities of drugs can lead to lengthy and even life imprisonment
South East Asia: sentences of 40 to 50 years are not uncommon

Harsh sentences
India: 10 years for smoking cannabis
Italy: Up to 20 years imprisonment
Jamaica: Drug offences result in mandatory prison sentences and large fines. Possession of even small quantities can lead to imprisonment
Morocco: Maximum of 10 years imprisonment plus a fine.
Spain: Sentences for carrying can be up to 12 years
Tunisia: Possession of even a small amount of drugs could cost you a term in prison, while more serious charges may even result in 20 years imprisonment plus a fine
Turkey: Up to 20 years imprisonment
Venezuela: Drug carriers face minimum 10-year prison sentences in harsh conditions

Btw, Saudi Arabia, which imposes a strict version of Islamic law, is the only country in the world where women are banned from driving. Religious authorities say allowing women to drive would lead to gender-mixing and take women away from their role as child-rearers. Doesn't sound moderate Sleepy.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the united states is holding several hundred people for no other reason than 'they looked arab and were holding a gun in a warzone' and probably torturing alot of people too... you see why rational, decent people are afraid of christians?

MrJoeSoap

Jimmy Joe-Joe Junior Shabadoo wrote: »

the united states is holding several hundred people for no other reason than 'they looked arab and were holding a gun in a warzone' and probably torturing alot of people too... you see why rational, decent people are afraid of christians?

Maybe thats why I feel safe in the United States, I don't look Arab. Arabs in the US have every right to feel threatened in the States, same way I wouldn't be too comfortable walking around Dubai.

irishconvert

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Arabs in the US have every right to feel threatened in the States.

Explain please

blah

I was considering going to New Zealand in a few months and some of the cheaper flights go through Dubai. Assuming that this is true, I will make sure never to go near there. It could have been me picking up a small amount on my shoe if I was to walk behind that guy. :eek: