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Briton jailed for four years in Dubai after customs find cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar under his shoe
Last updated at 00:37am on 09.02.08
Jailed: Keith Brown had a speck of cannabis on his shoe
Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.
A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes.
Dubai International Airport is a major hub for the Middle East and thousands of Britons pass through it every year to holiday in the glamorous beach and shopping haven.
But many of those tourists and business travellers are likely to be unaware of the strict zero-tolerance drugs policy in the UAE.
One man has even been jailed for possession of three poppy seeds left over from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow Airport. Painkiller codeine is also banned.
If suspicious of a traveller, customs officials can use high-tech equipment to uncover even the slightest trace of drugs.
Mr Brown was detained and arrested in September last year and has been held in a cell with three other men in the city prison ever since.
This week the youth worker, who has two young children and a partner at home in Smethwick, West Midlands, was sentenced to four years in prison.
A 25-year-old Briton who was found with a similar speck in one pocket as he arrived on holiday has been awaiting sentence since November.
Meanwhile a Big Brother TV executive has so far been held without charge for five days after being arrested for possessing the health supplement melatonin.
The authorities claim to have discovered 0.01g of hashish in his luggage.
Last night Mr Brown's brother Lee said his case "defied belief".
"For that sort of amount common sense should prevail, from where it was found it was obviously something that had been crushed on the floor - it could have come from anywhere."
Rastafarian Mr Brown had been returning from a short trip to Ethiopia, where one of his children lives and where he owns property.
He was travelling with his partner Imani, who was also stopped and detained for more than a week.
Normally he flew direct to and from the UK, but decided to stop off in Dubai.
"He was incensed when he called me," said driving instructor Lee, 57. "It would be funny if the circumstances weren't so unpleasant.
"Bugs are crawling out of his mattress when he's sleeping. His family are frantic with worry and can't call him."
Last night campaign group Fair Trials International advised visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to "take extreme caution".
Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen said: "We have seen a steep increase in such cases over the last 18 months.
"Customs authorities are using highly sensitive new equipment to conduct extremely thorough searches on travellers and if they find any amount - no matter how minute - it will be enough to attract a mandatory four-year prison sentence."
Mrs Wolthuizen added: "We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for 'possession' of three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow.
Held: A campaign is underway to secure the release of Cat Le-Huy from a Dubai jail
"What many travellers may not realise is that they can be deemed to be in possession of such banned substances if they can be detected in their urine or bloodstream, or even in tiny, trace amounts on their person."
Only two months after Mr Brown was stopped economics graduate Robert Dalton was detained in almost identical circumstances.
Mr Dalton, from Gravesend, on Kent was with two friends when he was stopped and asked to empty his pockets.
Officials found 0.03g of cannabis in a small amount of fluff. He is currently on trial and if convicted, is likely receive a four-year prison sentence.
Last night his brother Peter, 26, told how it took 24 hours to find out why he had been stopped.
"As we understand, the amount of cannabis was barely visible to the human eye and was at the bottom of the pocket of an old pair of jeans.
"He's not a drug user, but he goes clubbing and the speck was so small."
Last week Cat Le-Huy, a London-based German national, was arrested on arrival at the airport.
Mr Le-Huy, 31, head of technology with Big Brother production company Endemol, was arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs after customs officers found melatonin, a health supplement used for jet lag available over the counter both in Dubai and in the US.
Authorities also claim they discovered fragments in one of his bags which they believe to be hashish. Fair Trials International said the amount was 0.01g.
Reader views (25)
If people can be imprisoned for eating a poppy breadroll at the airport, or having a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck under their shoes, then Dubai's tourist announced tourist industry might simply not work. This laws a obvously unfair and unjust.You eat a breadroll or walk through a club and end 4 years in prison? We should actually warn people to travel to the UAE.They very money in our pockets may have traces of these substancences - enough to get you a 4 year term.
- Peter, London
The city does not have commerce anymore and they never did. It was a vacation spot for people who never had money to begin with but bluffed enough to try to live a fantasy. This city is nothing more than a financial mirage and stucco eroding into the sea.
As much as it costs to detain these people is a waste especially when it is very evident that many people that stay in the city get free heroin from Turkey or Afghanistan or perhaps any neighboring country close by. This is a farce or a front of a bigger scandal. They want you to think they are strict on drugs so you do not see them snorting them when your head is turned. It does not matter because the more money they lose they will have no choice but to give it up.
- Fallen City, Everywhere
99% of London currency has traces of cocaine on it, surely people unknowingly carry microscopic amount of amphetamine on these banknotes? How long before they start locking them up too!
I know someone who lived in Dubai for 3 months, and he said he will never go back after the way they treat foreigners there. They are like second class citizens. Still, when you have an endless supply of money pouring out of the ground, I guess you can make your own rules!
- Dr Eyelid, Malvern, Worcs
The Dubai regime defies logic and I have been completely put off visiting the place. Their abuse of the environment is also a cause for great concern. Why they don't just deport people found guilty of such minor offences baffles me.
- Jayne, Kent uk
This really is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. If they want to be that strict, fine, just send the person on the way home and never let them back in, but to actually sentence people to prison for 4 years is almost stereotypical of Arab's lack of respect for human rights.
- Tim, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
4 years Peter, not 4 months.
- Lloyd, Suffolk
The warning is clear: stay the hell away from Dubai, unless you're prepared to vacuum yourself and wear clean-room overalls when you're in transit.
For my part, there's nothing in Dubai that's worth that risk.
-jcr
- John C. Randolph, Cupertino, California, USA
Overkill at it's best, a classic example of "The Law" gone mad. Boycott Dubai, free the wronged, FREE GROOVERIDER!
- Dj Silvah, Cambridge, UK
Dubai's commerce is built on tourism. Vast amounts of funding is being spent by the Dubai government to create this industry. Yet innocent tourists and business leaders are being given 4 months in jail for possession of specks of hash which are less than a grain of sugar, which could get picked up innocently from hotel, airport, air plane. TOURISTS AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS SHOULD VOTE WITH THEIR FEET AND SHUN THIS DESTINATION.
- Peter, London, Uk, London, London
Zero-Tolerance in anything is incredibly stupid. You always have to consider the situations each on their own merits/circumstances, or else you're guaranteed to cause an injustice, whether it's a person carrying a microscopic speck of drugs, or high-school kids disrupting class.
These people could be good brain donors. You could describe their brains as "hardly used".
- Rob Gaebel, London
And they want to attract tourists to Dubai? I was planning to stop there to visit a friend on the way back from a holiday around Europe at the end of this year. Not anymore.
- Ryan, Brisbane, Australia
This is a Crime Against Humanity.... Taking away four years of a man's life for suck a small amount of contraband? Those officials should be jailed for eight years for such a horrific crime.
- Casey Jones, Pai, Thailand
If anyone has ever travelled to Dubai they would know that this is completely untrue. How is a customs official ever going look for a grain of cannabis under any ones shoes. These messages are ridiculous. In any case please disregard all of these crazy messages and travel to Dubai; you will only know how amazing the place is when you do.
- Vinit, Edison
That's just ridiculous. Would like to hear how they defend having a law on the borderline of stupidity.
- Pont, Gothenburg, Sweden
Since he travelled from Ethiopia, and passed the customs over there. It's enough to prove that he did not posses any illegal drug on his trip from Ethiopia. How did he get possession of that tiny amount? Either they planted it, he bought/stole it, or it was already in the airport and he accidentally got it on his shoes. Any sober lawyer would easily declare the charges null and void.
- Kristoffer, Stockholm, Sweden
I suppose you shouldn't travel to Dubai if you possess US dollars either, since cocaine can be found on more or less every bill.
Silly law, especially if the banned substance is found on the underside of the accused's shoes.
- Joakim, Orebro, Sweden
Let's think rationally for a moment. If you walk on a street or in an airport and a tiny speck of an illegal substance sticks to the sole of your shoe, and you have no knowledge whatsoever that it ever happened, you should nonetheless have your life ruined. But maybe I'm missing something.
- Robert, Tucson, Arizona USA
Yes, it is breaking a law...but it is a silly law... and aren't we fools for following stupid laws?
- Daveb, london
Its clear, don't travel to Dubai if it can be avoided. Sooner or later they may get messsage when no one visits the place !
- X, Lux
These sentences are an absolute disgrace and I agree there should be a complete boycott of Dubai by holidaymakers. Hit 'em where it hurts!
- Helen, London, UK
Don't buy Dubai!
- Dave P, Brighton
Well done Dubai - it is a shame that we do not take this stance in this country.
- Minime, South East England
Simple answer. Don't travel to intollerant regimes such as this.
It would be impossible for anyone without specialist equipment to be able to detect 0.003grammes of any substance on their person. Most dollar bills have been impregnated with more than this.
- Marc, Harrow, Uk
As for the guy mentioned who got jailed for having 2 grams of cannabis on him that he had 'forgotten about' - well too bad, it's breaking the law.
- Will, London
Why would anyone go to a country with such ridiculous laws .. We have strict drug laws here in Singapore such as blood tests and the like , but they are sensibly enforced pale in comparrision to the madness of Dubai. The best way to teach these people to exercise some common sense is to hit them where it hurts . Stop buying the appartments there,dont use the airline, stop investing, stop using Dubai as a transit hub, stop shopping and dont go there on holiday.
I dont use drugs so it shouldnt effect me , but after reading this story I wont be going anywhere near the place.
- Scott, Singapore
