10-year jail term upheld for men who tried to smuggle 50kg of heroin out of Dubai market

Four men who tried to smuggle more than 50kg of heroin out of the Fruit and Vegetable Market in Al Aweer in boxes of oranges have their ten-year jail terms upheld.

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DUBAI // Four men who tried to smuggle more than 50kg of heroin out of Al Aweer Fruit and Vegetable Market in boxes of oranges had their ten-year jail sentences upheld by the Appeals Court today.

Officers from Dubai Police's anti-narcotics department arrested the men on April 4 last year after putting the market under surveillance following a tip off.

The officers watched as three of the men collected the drugs from the fourth man at the market.

"They spoke for a while and then all of them walked towards a container," testified a major with the Dubai Police. A pickup truck pulled up and one of the men asked some workers to load it with boxes of oranges from the container.

A further four pickup trucks were loaded.

When police searched the vehicles they found the boxes to contain plastic bags of heroin underneath the fruit.

Under police interrogation one of the men said that a woman was directing the smuggling operation from Pakistan.

The Criminal Court found JZ, 27, AS, 30, MH, 40, and AJ, 22, all from Pakistan, guilty on charges of possession, trafficking and intent to supply. In addition to ten-year jail terms, each man was fined Dh50,000.

The Appeals Court upheld the verdict.

The men will be deported after serving their jail terms.

salamir@thenational.ae