DUBAI // A drug dealer who buried 25 kilograms of hashish in the desert was connected to the scene by his footprints, a court heard today.
A police surveillance team watched as HS, 62, an unemployed Emirati, dug two barrels containing the drug out of the desert on September 5 before selling it to another man.
Prosecutors told the Criminal Court that police put the man under surveillance along with his accomplice, FJ, 46, after being tipped off that they were expecting a drug shipment hidden in two barrels to arrive at Sharjah's Khalid Port.
On August 12, the police team saw a passerby mistakenly bump into one of the barrels, knocking it over. MH, a police lieutenant colonel, said that when the barrel fell over its cover opened and a strong smell of hashish filled the air.
FJ then loaded the barrels into his car and drove off. An undercover police car tried to follow him, but lost him in a traffic jam.
However, police ascertained that the barrels had been delivered to HS, and later watched as he dug them out of the desert and sold them to a third man.
HS was arrested the next day and the treads of his shoes were shown to match those in the desert where the drug barrels had been dug up, according to the lieutenant colonel.
Officers then arrested his accomplice, who admitted drug dealing and said the pair had worked together for a long time.
The case was adjourned to May 12.
salamir@thenational.ae
