Ignorance of the law is not a defense in the UAE.
Back in Nov four years in prison.
Grooverider’s not the first foreigner to face such a conviction, and the four year term’s been handed down for possessing as little as 0.002 grams. That basically amounts to a crumb of the herb and in Dubai they can pretty much search the bags of anyone passing through. Grooverider claimed he’d forgotten about his tiny stash in a pair of pants he’d packed for the trip.
His employers at BBC Radio 1 had this to say about the conviction, “He made a serious mistake and is paying a very high price.” Those British, they do have a way with understatement. Four years for what would be considered a minor infraction most places is punitive to the extreme. If the UAE wants to have zero tolerance for drugs, good for them, but visitors should probably be exported and barred from reentry rather than jailed.
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