A Canadian anti-narcotics agent has been jailed for four years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for possessing drugs, the Khaleej Times reported yesterday.
Bert Tatham, 35, was sentenced by a Dubai court on Tuesday for possession and consumption of hashish, the English-language paper said, adding he would be deported from the Gulf state after serving his sentence.
Tatham's lawyer, Saeed al-Gailani, told the newspaper he would appeal within 15 days.
Tatham was arrested at Dubai airport on April 23 during a stopover from Afghanistan to Canada when customs officials found two poppy flowers in his luggage.
After conducting a search, authorities found 0.6g of hashish in his clothes and traces of drugs in his urine, the paper said.
The emirate of Dubai, one of seven that makes up the UAE, has turned itself into a major leisure hub for the oil-rich Gulf and draws millions of visitors every year.
But the UAE imposes tough penalties for all drug-related offenses -- four years is the usual sentence for possession and trafficking carries the death penalty.
In a letter printed in the Ottawa Citizen, Tatham alleged his testimony was not translated properly at his trial.
"I was not confident that those who took down my answers were fluent English speakers," he wrote. "In fact, despite my protests, I suspect that virtually the opposite of what I told them was recorded as my statement."
The letter detailed a possible misunderstanding during an interrogation at Dubai airport.
Tatham insisted in his letter that he handled drugs regularly in Afghanistan as part of his role as a counter-narcotics official, working alongside 2,500 Canadian troops in southern Kandahar Province.
"Drugs was a major occupational hazard," he wrote. "I handled hashish and other substances regularly in Afghanistan as part of my role as a counter-narcotics official."
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Canada said that officials have been in contact with Tatham and his family, but would not comment on his case, citing privacy laws.
The National Post said Tatham had worked for several years in Afghanistan for the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, but recently became a contractor with the US State Department.
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