Middle East: Dubai Customs Busts Canadian UN Afghan Drug Worker

An international advisor to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Afghanistan Poppy Elimination Program appeared in the Dubai Court of First Instance Tuesday on charges he possessed 0.6 grams of hashish and two poppy seeds. The Canadian UN worker, known only by the initials H.W., pleaded innocent.

"My client is an anti-narcotics officer who cooperates with the UNODC," said defense attorney Saeed Al Gailani. "During his one-hour transit visit from Kandahar where he was on an anti-narcotics campaign, he was caught at the airport carrying the poppy seeds, which he was taking to Canada for experiments."

As for the hash, Gailani said H.W. participated in collecting and burning massive quantities of drugs. "His trousers must have mistakenly picked up the tiny quantity of hashish," said the lawyer. "It was natural that he tested positive for hashish which appeared in his urine test because he is considered a passive smoker especially that he burns about ten tons a day," said Gailani.

A verdict is expected later this month. The Canadian isn't the only one getting popped for ridiculously small amounts of drugs. Just last week, the Chronicle reported on an an unfortunate Englishman sentenced to four years for 1/100th of a gram of hash and an Italian facing a similar fate for 7/100ths of a gram of marijuana. As we noted last week, don't take your doobies to Dubai.