DUBAI • A Saudi judge who served as head of an Islamic court has been arrested in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on charges of possessing and using drugs, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Hamad Salim bin Naif, who served as head of a Shariah (Islamic law) court in Saudi Arabia, was arrested along with his Moroccan wife after police raided their room in a Dubai hotel on Friday and found four grams of hashish in his possession, the Khaleej Times said. The suspect confessed that he and his wife take drugs and said he brought the confiscated hashish from Saudi Arabia for their personal use, the English-language newspaper reported, citing a Dubai police source.

Shariah courts in Saudi Arabia impose tough penalties for drug-related charges, and drug trafficking is punishable by death in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a member, also imposes severe penalties for all drug-related offences. Four years in prison is the usual sentence for possession while trafficking carries the death penalty.

The bustling city state of Dubai is a prime leisure destination for residents of more conservative parts of the oil-rich Gulf region.