A woman who sold a marijuana cigarette for dhs30 to an undercover police officer has been jailed for life.

The Tanzanian woman, who is in her 20s, was caught by police after they received a tip-off that she was running a drugs den in the Deira area of Dubai.  

An Emirati officer told Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday that they had received a tip-off in December that the woman was selling drugs from the premises.

“Our sources informed us that she used her flat in Deira area of Dubai as a drugs den and she was trading with customers there,” the Emirati officer said.

“We send an undercover policeman to her flat and he bought a cigarette for dhs30.”

Police then raided the flat and the woman was charged with possessing and trading 16 marijuana cigarettes weighing 19g in total.

 “She was possessing many cigarettes full with marijuana and she confessed to us that she used to sell them for dhs30 each” the officer added.
Medical reports also showed there were drugs in her body.

The woman had denied all the charges against her and her lawyer has vowed to appeal against the verdict, which will see the woman serve at least 25 years behind bars before being deported.

A court official told 7DAYS: “The law orders us to sentence anyone trading with any amount of drugs to life in jail. Even if it the amount few grams, it’s still trading.

“This verdict is sending out a clear message to anyone trading with drugs that this business can ruin your life.”

In a separate case, an African male was sentenced to ten years in jail followed by deportation for possessing and smuggling 1.2 kg of cocaine.

The defendant was caught at Dubai International Airport by customs who found he had 73 pills of cocaine in his stomach. He was also fined dhs50,000.