DUBAI // Three British tourists caught in possession of synthetic cannabis had their four-year jail terms upheld by the Appeals Court today.
K?A and G?M, both 25 and S?K, 24, were arrested after a tip-off to police that two of them had 1,060 grams of spice they intended to sell.
Police detained them in Dubai Marina on July 10 last year and found two plastic bags containing the drug during a search of their BMW. One of the bags was under the passenger seat and another was in the car's boot.
All three denied possessing the drug and claimed it had been placed in the car by a fourth Briton, F?D.
Urine samples taken from each of the three men showed traces of the drug.
During their trial at the Criminal Court the three claimed to have been tortured by police into confessing.
The younger man's lawyer, Eisa bin Haidar, told the court his client was taken into the desert and hit with the butt of a gun.
In court the men admitted consuming the drug but said they did so while outside the UAE and it must have stayed in their system until their urine tests.
The Criminal Court sentenced them to four years in jail and ordered them to be deported after serving their terms. The Appeals Court upheld both the custodial sentence and the deportation order.
salamir@thenational.ae
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