Pair deny having 290,000 Captagon pills

DUBAI // Two men have denied possession of 290,000 amphetamine pills, a court has heard.

The pills were from a shipment of 500,000 Captagon pills hidden in rolls of garments that were seized by Dubai Customs officers at Jebel Ali port on July 9, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

AR, who had exported the garments, told the officers he was unaware of the presence of the drugs and agreed to help them set a trap for the intended recipients. He contacted the man who had commissioned the cargo and told him he had found the pills, and agreed to deliver them to BB, a 30-year-old from Saudi Arabia.

He met the Saudi man on July 24 at the car park of Century Mall and handed over a suitcase containing the drugs. Officers then arrested the Saudi Arabian, who helped set a similar trap for NM, a 22-year-old Emirati to whom he was supposed to deliver the drugs.

The two agreed to meet later that day at the Regency Hotel. Police arrested the Emirati as he received the suitcase in the hotel lobby.

The Saudi Arabian and the Emirati were both charged with possessing drugs with the intention to sell. Both denied the charges.

The next hearing was scheduled for December 24.

wissa@thenational.ae