Drug dealer sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi

An Abu Dhabi appeal court sentenced an Afghan drug dealer to death after he was convicted of smuggling nearly eight kg of heroin into the emirate, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The court supported an earlier death sentence against the dealer, who sold four kg of the stuff to a disguised detective and tried to tip him with $12,000 after paying him $60,000 for the narcotics, it said.

The defendant had used 51 tape recorders to conceal the stuff, which he said belonged to a drug trader at home.

“The funny thing is that when the police decoy paid him $60,000 for the four kg, the dealer returned $12,000 as a tip to the detective,” the paper said.

It quoted the defendant as telling court that the drugs were discovered at Kabul airport in Afghanistan but he was allowed to pass after bribing the customs officer with 2,500 rupees. He said he agreed to smuggle the drugs to a person in the UAE because the dealer at home wanted the money to treat his ill father.

Albayan said four other Afghan drug smugglers had also been sentenced to death early this month, including two in absentia.

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