ABU DHABI // An American musician has been deported after being found with controlled painkillers without a proper prescription.
The case has sparked renewed calls from lawyers for tourists to take more care when bringing medicine into the country.
Matthew Gonzales, 37, was arrested in April on charges of illegal possession of tramadol, and deported on Friday. He had been sentenced to two years in jail but that was later reduced to deportation and a Dh7,000 fine.
Mr Gonzales, a musician and IT worker, was passing through Abu Dhabi on April 16 to board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship when he was arrested for not having a prescription for his pain medication.
Tramadol is on the list of banned drugs.
His sister, Nicole Denil, presented documents proving that Mr Gonzales had been prescribed tramadol by his doctors and the sentence was reduced.
She also used the hashtag #freematty on social media to draw attention to the case.
"We had the lawyers trying to move the appeal day," Ms Denil said. "We had senators from five different states and congressmen from five different states lobbying for this."
Mr Gonzales said he had been in Al Wathba prison for more than two months.
"It’s obviously good to be home," he said. "My sister is an angel, a rock star.
"I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk through a full day without feeling unburdened. I owe her everything."
Authorities have repeatedly warned about bringing in drugs without prescriptions.
Lawyer Huda Al Falamarzy said she had seen many cases of tourists who were unaware of the regulations and arrested for bringing in medication without the necessary documents.
"It is not just that they must have an authenticated prescription from an official and certified authority in their home country, but it also has to be very accurate," Ms Al Falamarzy said. "The exact dosage has to be mentioned and signed by a certified doctor."
She said she was currently representing a young man on similar charges.
"He has a prescription for one month’s worth of medication," Ms Al Falamarzy said. "In the prescription it said that he was to take one tablet a day. Unfortunately, he found that it was cheaper to order his medicine online in bulk so he ordered three months’ worth."
Customs alerted the authorities and he was arrested.
"So if your prescription is for one month, make sure you only bring in one months’ worth of medicines," she said, adding that Mr Gonzales received a lenient sentence.
In October last year, President Sheikh Khalifa updated the 1995 law to downgrade the use of illegal drugs to a misdemeanour. Under the previous law, Mr Gonzales would have been sentenced to four years in prison.
A list of restricted and controlled medicines or drugs is available on the Ministry of Health’s website.
It stipulates that residents and non-residents patients can bring in a maximum three-month supply of prescription medicine for their own use.
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UAE cautions passengers travelling with prescription drugs
Before entering the country, visitors are advised to take all precautions to ensure that they do not carry illegal drugs, narcotics and chemicals on their person, in luggage or in medicine they might be carrying.
Strict penalties include imprisonment followed by deportation.
To ensure that medication does not contain a banned or restricted substance, visitors are advised to check the list of restricted and controlled medicine or drugs on the Ministry of Health’s website.
If the medicine is on that list , it is advisable not to carry it on flights, or by land or sea into the UAE.
But if for medical or emergency reasons you need to carry any medicine, you must have a prescription from a UAE-licensed doctor.
If treatment was undertaken abroad, you must carry a doctor’s prescription and a detailed medical report, both of which should be attested.
You are not allowed to bring more than three months’ supply of medicine under the guidelines.
All other recreational drugs including cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and opiates and its derivatives are banned.
Poppy seeds are also banned so it is advisable to avoid accidentally carrying bakery products that might contain such seeds.
Also banned are some chewing tobacco and related substances, that are widely used in Asia and parts of Africa.
These include qat leaf, betel leaf or betel nuts, niswah and gutkha.
*Dubai Government
