A driver was arrested carrying more than 16 kilograms of amphetamine tablets, Dubai Criminal Court was told.
The 28-year-old man told the court he did not know the bag contained drugs
"My flatmate's friend came to the house and asked if he can leave his bag with us for a while, I thought that he had arranged with my flatmate since he is his friend, and I didn't object," the Syrian defendant said, denying a charge of possessing drugs to sell.
He said he only found out the bag contained drugs after he was arrested on June 30.
An Emirati police lieutenant from Cuba drug control said they received a tip off about the man and arrested him near a park in Rigga after obtaining a warrant.
"He was carrying a large bag, which when we opened, it contained two large plastic bags with thousands of tablets in them," said the officer. The bag contained 92,786 Amphetamine tablets weighing 16.8 Kg.
The defendant allegedly told drug control officers he was given the tablets by an unknown man based on directions from another man abroad to smuggle them to Saudi Arabia in return for Dh20,000.
"He provided us with a name and a picture of the man who gave him direction then when we checked the system, we found that this man, also Syrian, is charged with drug trafficking but had been on the run for a few years," said the officer.
The next hearing will be held on October 2.
