Dubai holds TV executive for weeks over 0.03 g of cannabis dust, then frees him
Airport officers detained Endemol technology head Cat Le-Huy on 26 January 2008 after melatonin pills and alleged traces of cannabis resin in his bag dust. After weeks in airport cells and Al Wathba prison the case was dropped and he was released without charge in early March.
🇦🇪 Dubai International Airport · United Arab Emirates
Cat Le-Huy, a 31-year-old German national living in London who headed
technology for the television producer Endemol, was arrested on arrival at
Dubai International Airport on 26 January 2008 while on his way to visit a
friend.[1]Officers first seized melatonin tablets, a legal jetlag remedy,
then ordered tests on dust in his suitcase that allegedly showed traces of
cannabis resin; Le-Huy denied carrying drugs.[1][2]The alleged amount was
0.03 grams.[2]
He spent weeks in airport detention cells before transfer to Al Wathba prison,
was made to sign an Arabic document feared to be a confession and to give a
urine sample, while friends campaigned for his release.[1][3]In early March
the case was dropped completely and he was released without charge, free to
enter or leave the emirate.[3][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The UAE said on 6 November 2026 that it had arrested 20 suspects and stopped a plan to bring 200,000 Captagon pills and more than 30 kg of other drugs through a border area of Ras Al Khaimah. Gulf News and Emarat Al Youm said the other drugs included marijuana and hashish, with no separate cannabis weight published.
Abu Dhabi's federal appeal court upheld a three-month use sentence and a trafficking acquittal for a man caught collecting hashish in Al Nahda, Sharjah. His co-defendant was sentenced in absentia to life over 1,091.1 grams of cannabis-linked drugs.
The National Anti-Narcotics Authority and Ras Al Khaimah police arrested 23 people and seized marijuana, hash oil and synthetic cannabinoid materials in a nationwide operation. Two were arrested while transporting drugs, 11 more were linked to a ringleader based abroad, and 10 were held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ajman.
Abu Dhabi's Court of Appeal overturned a life sentence for possessing cannabis and psychotropic substances with intent to traffic and reclassified the offence as possession for personal use. The court found no evidence of promotion, negotiation or delivery, and said the investigation did not explain why police had concluded he was trading.
