Emirati who planted marijuana in villa to spend 10 years in jail

KT file photo

A man accused of planting marijuana inside his villa has been sentenced to ten years in jail.
The 46-year-old Emirati national (an employee), who earlier admitted in court to the charge of personal use only, has also been ordered by the Court of First Instance to pay a Dh50,000 fine.
The Emirati earlier told the court that while he learnt how to grow the marijuana plants online and he requested the necessary tools from abroad.
The defendant was convicted of charges including planting and possessing drugs and narcotics for trafficking and using the drugs. As many as 38 plants of cannabis weighing 380.8 kilos were seized from his villa in Abu Dhabi.
The court ordered that the seized plants be confiscated.
Saeed Al Guilani, the defense lawyer, earlier told the court that his client became addicted to drugs while pursuing his education in the United States.
"My client has a master degree and a position and he felt embarrassed to get the substance from others so he grew it himself. I plead the court to modify the charge to possession for personal use. I am not legalizing the use of drugs but explaining my client's circumstances".
The man's urine sample test was positive for drug use.
A police lieutenant said that they received a tip-off that the accused was using and possessing drugs for selling to others.
"We learnt that he was in Al Ain. With a prosecution warrant we intercepted his car at 11pm on March 11 on Al Ain-Dubai road," the lieutenant said.
The police found drugs including marijuana in his car. He led the police to his villa in Al Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.
Marijuana seeds and plastic bags containing hashish were found on a sink and around the place.
The majlis was partitioned into three rooms where planting tools and chemicals, used for growing marijuana plants, were found. The Anti-Narcotics officers found about 38 buckets in which the accused was planting marijuana.
The accused told the officers that he used to dry the drugs and used pumps to let the odour out and freshen the air inside the house.
A large quantity of amphetamine pills (more than 1,968 pills) were found in the defendant's house in Sharjah.  
The verdict remains subject to appeal.