Briton jailed in Dubai after police find speck of cannabis on shoe

[zera]

Briton jailed for four years in Dubai after customs find cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar under his shoe
By BETH HALE - More by this author »
Last updated at 10:23am on 8th February 2008
Comments (40)


Jailed: Keith Brown had a speck of cannabis on his shoe
A father-of-three who was found with a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes has been sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison.
Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.

A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes.

Dubai International Airport is a major hub for the Middle East and thousands of Britons pass through it every year to holiday in the glamorous beach and shopping haven.

But many of those tourists and business travellers are likely to be unaware of the strict zero-tolerance drugs policy in the UAE.

One man has even been jailed for possession of three poppy seeds left over from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow Airport. Painkiller codeine is also banned.

If suspicious of a traveller, customs officials can use high-tech equipment to uncover even the slightest trace of drugs.

Mr Brown was detained and arrested in September last year and has been held in a cell with three other men in the city prison ever since.

This week the youth worker, who has two young children and a partner at home in Smethwick, West Midlands, was sentenced to four years in prison.

A 25-year-old Briton who was found with a similar speck in one pocket as he arrived on holiday has been awaiting sentence since November.

Meanwhile a Big Brother TV executive has so far been held without charge for five days after being arrested for possessing the health supplement melatonin.

The authorities claim to have discovered 0.01g of hashish in his luggage.

Last night Mr Brown's brother Lee said his case "defied belief".

"For that sort of amount common sense should prevail, from where it was found it was obviously something that had been crushed on the floor - it could have come from anywhere."

Rastafarian Mr Brown had been returning from a short trip to Ethiopia, where one of his children lives and where he owns property.

He was travelling with his partner Imani, who was also stopped and detained for more than a week.

Normally he flew direct to and from the UK, but decided to stop off in Dubai.

"He was incensed when he called me," said driving instructor Lee, 57. "It would be funny if the circumstances weren't so unpleasant.

"Bugs are crawling out of his mattress when he's sleeping. His family are frantic with worry and can't call him."

Last night campaign group Fair Trials International advised visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to "take extreme caution".

Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen said: "We have seen a steep increase in such cases over the last 18 months.

"Customs authorities are using highly sensitive new equipment to conduct extremely thorough searches on travellers and if they find any amount - no matter how minute - it will be enough to attract a mandatory four-year prison sentence."

Mrs Wolthuizen added: "We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for 'possession' of three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow.


Held: A campaign is underway to secure the release of Cat Le-Huy from a Dubai jail
"What many travellers may not realise is that they can be deemed to be in possession of such banned substances if they can be detected in their urine or bloodstream, or even in tiny, trace amounts on their person."

Only two months after Mr Brown was stopped economics graduate Robert Dalton was detained in almost identical circumstances.

Mr Dalton, from Gravesend, on Kent was with two friends when he was stopped and asked to empty his pockets.

Officials found 0.03g of cannabis in a small amount of fluff. He is currently on trial and if convicted, is likely receive a four-year prison sentence.

Last night his brother Peter, 26, told how it took 24 hours to find out why he had been stopped.

"As we understand, the amount of cannabis was barely visible to the human eye and was at the bottom of the pocket of an old pair of jeans.

"He's not a drug user, but he goes clubbing and the speck was so small."

Last week Cat Le-Huy, a London-based German national, was arrested on arrival at the airport.

Mr Le-Huy, 31, head of technology with Big Brother production company Endemol, was arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs after customs officers found melatonin, a health supplement used for jet lag available over the counter both in Dubai and in the US.

Authorities also claim they discovered fragments in one of his bags which they believe to be hashish. Fair Trials International said the amount was 0.01g.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...=1770&ito=1490

Reputation Comments on this post:

Use a more descriptive thread title (threads in this forum appear in the "Breaking Drug News" marquee on the h...

[aerozeppelin123]

OK I think that just about sums up how reading that made me feel.

[fnord]

Originally Posted by aerozeppelin123

OK I think that just about sums up how reading that made me feel.

I second that!!! fucking poppy seeds?

Is there anything that a group like the UN could do?

[Hyperspaceblastoff]

this is exactly y im so afraid to travel
and ive seen dubai has like the best hotels
id rather stay here

[umbra1010]

That is beyond belief. how can anyone be jailed for four years for a speck of weed.

[podge]

Swims brother and sister both work near dubai - guess swim wont be visiting.

[Mr. Giraffe]

The absolute saddest thing has to be that the sick fucks who read the Daily Mail pretty much think this is a great blow for justice. Check out this comment:

Good on these authorities for actually enforcing the law of the land, I have no pity for the suspects and criminals whom they have caught, some ignorant, some stupid and some simply brazen. It seems that suspect "profiling" is alive, well and working effectively in some parts of the world.

It's a shame that our own establishment is so weak by comparison.

- Perfectly Fair, Edinburgh, Scotland

[radiometer]

They are apparently not so freakish regarding prescription medicines. Eddie's wife used to have to travel frequently to Dubai (as well as Singapore), and she never had any difficulties with small amounts of benzodiazepines in her carryon.

[Sitbcknchill]

4 years for 1/100 g of hash-- don't go to Dubai!

Dubai court jails US music producer in drugs case

[Thirdedge]

Someone needs to do an anti-tourism campaign on Dubai to warn those considering traveling there about this sort of thing. If you smoke weed, or have friends or family who smoke weed, don,t go there full stop.

If they lost enough tourism dollars due to this they may have to consider changing their laws.

[podge]

Originally Posted by Thirdedge

Someone needs to do an anti-tourism campaign on Dubai to warn those considering traveling there about this sort of thing. If you smoke weed, or have friends or family who smoke weed, don,t go there full stop.

If they lost enough tourism dollars due to this they may have to consider changing their laws.

Thats a good idea. As bad as it sounds 'War on tourism" might save good people many unnecessary years in jail.

[Purest]

That is just so ridiculous, they really shouldn't be allowed to charge tourists in this manner, an amount that isn't visible by the naked eye, what use is that, and it was on his shoe, not in it, on it, so chances are he just stepped on a tiny fragment at some point. I remember the other topics about this, but seriously, someone needs to step in and stop customs doing stupid things like that.

[yaba]

Wont be going there !! Remember something from some time back. A woman was held in Dubai because she had a problem with her passport and they found codeine in her blood. She got time not sure how much.

[aerozeppelin123]

I really think our government needs to do something about this. How would one go about appealing to the government to work to get him a pardon? Like what department and stuff

[afarmer]

That really does take the biscuit.

From this it basically means that nobody is safe, if they can give people 4 year prison sentences for having it on their shoe.

I can understand what happened to Grooverider, having a whole joint on him was pretty stupid, but with the other people they're really taking it too far.

I'm going to boycott Dubai, on my own.

[lulz]

Here's more info on that person in the article who was arrested in Dubai for possession of melatonin

So here is what is happening with Diz, my partner.

I waited to go public with this because I wanted to preserve his privacy, and thank you for understanding the cryptic nature of my communication lately.

On Saturday morning Diz flew into Dubai airport and was detained at immigration. We kind of knew he would be profiled because he has long hair and looks oriental (they are very racist against Asians in Dubai, and ultra-conservative). He knew the score going in: prescription drugs are illegal, dress conservatively and detox for a week (even trace amounts of either illegal or prescription drugs in the urine are prosecuted as 'drug smuggling'. I'm not joking).

They found melatonin on him, which he bought over the counter in the US. Legally, you can even buy it over the counter in Dubai.

They arrested him, anyway.

He was strip searched, forced to do a urine test and thrown in jail. In their search they dug into the bottom of his bag and came up with a few fragments of dirt, which they allege is hashish, which is totally outrageous. They also claimed that the melatonin was actually drugs, which was equally, clearly absurd.

The sentence if convicted is a blanket four years, with a minimum of six months in prison in one of Dubai's squalid, third world facilities.

After detaining him for three days, the melatonin was determined to be just that, and his urine was clear. Now they've asked for a seven day extension to test the dirt, and we trust that he will be on his way home after that.

They've been psychologically abusing all of us. One minute we're told they'll let him go as soon as they test the pills, the next we're told they are going through and pressing charges against him. Taking care of his affairs and keeping all of his close friends and relations, spanning four continents, up to date has been a full time job. Nadya, myself and Scott (his friend in Dubai: read his account here) have been working around the clock, ready to wage a campaign for his freedom in the event that he is charged. Scotty and Nadya are both pretty much fucking angels.

I spoke to him for the first time today. He rang me and answered my greeting with "Hello from the Dubai tourism board!", so rest assure he is in good spirits and taking all of this very well.

http://users.livejournal.com/_yungfuktoi_/306878.html?

[♣ Tekken ♥]

jeez, that was close! God only knows what he was going to do with that invisible speck of cannabis if customs hadn't stopped him!

[Felonious Skunk]

Other than tourism (and really, what does Dubai have that you can't get elsewhere), what's the best way to hit Dubai in the bank account?

Just wondering...

[Bajeda]

Originally Posted by Felonious Skunk

Other than tourism (and really, what does Dubai have that you can't get elsewhere), what's the best way to hit Dubai in the bank account?

Just wondering...

They have a very big bank account. GDP of $168 billion last I checked, making it the 38th largest economy in the world. Plus you can add investments in numerous other countries including the US. Abu Dhabi alone has over $600 billion in overseas investments. The UAE manufactures a great deal of manufactured goods, and Dubai's construction industry is booming in particular (both there and in locations abroad serviced by those companies). Tourism is still thriving, and Emirates Air is one of the most profitable airlines around. Loads of corporations have locations in Dubai, especially financial but also many trade and manufacturing oriented firms thanks to the free-trade zone. I don't think they could be easily pressured to move out. Real estate is still growing at a ridiculous pace, with the world's current tallest building still being constructed, and Dubai is trying to attract biotech firms and other industries now. They do business within and outside of the Middle East, and are good friends with the US. UAE ports house more US Navy ships than any other port outside the US. The UAE emirates are also heavily invested in the US economy.

[lulz]

Surprisingly it seems that Dubai responded to the negative international attention surrounding this case:

[top]Dubai pardons Briton 'with cannabis on shoe'

12 hours ago

DUBAI (AFP) — A British man sentenced to four years in jail in the Gulf emirate of Dubai for having a tiny amount of cannabis stuck to his shoe has been pardoned, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Andrew Brown was released early from prison in the Western-orientated emirate which is a popular destination for British tourists, the English language 7Days reported, without stating how much of the jail term he served.

The 43-year-old was arrested in September at Dubai International Airport after customs officers found 0.003 grams (0.0001 ounces) of cannabis on the sole of one his shoes.

The UAE imposes tough penalties for all drug-related offences. Four years is the usual sentence for possession while trafficking carries the death penalty.

The Gulf News reported on February 19 that a Dubai court had sentenced British dance DJ Grooverider to four years in prison for drug possession.

The newspaper said 2.16 grammes (0.076 ounces) of marijuana was found in his luggage at the airport in November when he arrived to perform a gig in the emirate.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...i-2TxuRrFe9_Qw

[aerozeppelin123]

That's really great to hear, that annoyed me so much when I heard about that. At least there's SOME common sense amongst the Dubai authorities.