Navy veteran from Georgia faces years in Dubai prison over prescription medicine

Charles Wimberly, from Covington, Georgia, comes from a strong military background. His father served in the US military and his brother in the Air Force. Sadly, Mr Wimberly suffers a degenerative joint disease of the spine that requires ongoing care and medication, including spinal injections. He was scheduled for surgery in November with an expected six month long recovery time, so was quite excited to go on a pre-surgery holiday to the UAE.

After arriving on the 21st of September, Charles filled his six days abroad with full day tours. From 8am - 10pm, he saw all the tourist sites while managing his pain with prescriptions. On the 27th of September, the fun was over and Charles headed to DXB for his long flight home, but he was pulled aside by airport security when he beeped going through pre-departure screening. The staff found his prescription Ibuprofen and CBD oil and despite him presenting his prescriptions, he was locked up. “It’s every tourist’s nightmare”, explains Crisis Manager Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai who is helping Mr Wimberly.