Three expat face jail, deportation from Oman for manufacturing tobacco

3 expats face deportation from Oman over manufacture chewing tobacco.

Muscat: The Court of First Instance in Mahdha recently issued a judicial ruling convicting some of the defendants and punishing them with imprisonment and deportation from the country after the end of their prison sentence.

The details of the ruling relate to the fact that the Consumer Protection Department in the Buraimi Governorate, in cooperation with the General Command of the Royal Oman Police in the Buraimi Governorate, with support from the Wilayat of Mahdha Police Station, was able to raid workers on one of the farms in the state who were manufacturing tobacco and packing it in bags in preparation for sale, after a report submitted by a consumer to the administration of the presence of… Expatriate workers manufacture chewing tobacco.

After investigation and monitoring by judicial officers at the site, and taking permission from the Public Prosecution and coordinating with the Royal Oman Police to raid the site, the workers were caught manufacturing chewing tobacco by grinding and processing the materials with machines and equipment designated for that. Manufacturing materials were also seized in their initial condition and a number of 307 were seized. Bags weighing 40 kilograms each of 14,280 kilograms. Four people were also seized at the site. They were arrested and referred to the court, which sentenced the defendants to three months in prison, confiscating the seized tobacco materials in preparation for their destruction, and confiscating a number of other seized items. It also ruled the deportation of three defendants from the country after the end of the sentence.