Busted for a boot full of alcohol in the capital

Police confiscated a Lexus car and jailed its owner for six months for smuggling 80 crates of alcohol into the capital.

Abu Dhabi traffic police found Dhs25,000 worth of booze in the car of the Pakistani defendant who was returning from an Ajman wholesalers.

He and a friend had hoped to sell the drink in Abu Dhabi to party planners, individuals and entertainment venues. Officers became suspicious after noticing the car was weighed down at the back. They pulled over the vehicle, searched it and arrested the pair after finding beer, whisky and vodka. Neither of the men had a licence to buy alcohol.

The owner of the car was given a custodial sentence by the Court of First Instance - it was upheld by the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal.

His accomplice, jailed for a year, managed to get his sentence reduced to two months by the Abu Dhabi Court of appeal, which accepted that he had a lesser role in the bootlegging scheme.

The accomplice told 7DAYS: “Police said they were amazed that we fitted so much alcohol in the back of the car. Now the alcohol and the car, which was less than a year old, are both gone.”

A court official said it was common practice to seize vehicles involved in smuggling or drugs cases.

sean.odriscoll@7days.ae