Vet found not guilty of importing banned drugs to the UAE

A package arrived at Dubai airport addressed to the Portuguese veterinarian and it contained 380 banned tablets but she argued that she had no criminal intentions.

DUBAI // A Portuguese veterinarian won her appeal against a seven-year sentence handed to her by Dubai Criminal Court for importing 380 banned tablets.

MN, 53, was sentenced on December 28 last year and was told she would be deported after serving the time and that she would also be fined Dh50,000.

Prosecutors told the court last September that the vet was arrested after a package with her name on it arrived at Dubai airport on May 22 last year and was found to contain 120 Tramadol capsules and 260 diazepam tablets.

She was contacted and told to visit the anti-narcotics department at Dubai Police, where she was accused of importing the drugs.

The woman denied the charge to police, prosecutors and the court.

Her defence lawyer argued at the appeals court that his client had no criminal intentions when she imported the tablets and also said that the investigating prosecutor had signed her testimony in place of the translator who would normally sign it, an act that the lawyer said had destroyed the entire prosecution case.

Dubai Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and said the vet was not guilty.

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