Home / United Arab Emirates / Organized crime

Organized crimePossibly — unconfirmed

Read this before the rangeUAE federal law has NO general standalone 'organised crime' offence. Organised criminal activity is punished through (1) the Penal Code's state-security gang offences (Arts. 188-190), which require an anti-State / anti-regime aim - NOT ordinary profit-motivated organised crime; (2) the predicate offences themselves (theft, fraud, trafficking, etc., each punished under its own article); and (3) 'organised criminal group' / 'organised gang' as an AGGRAVATOR in specific statutes (AML Art. 26(2)(c); Narcotics Arts. 57-58). A widely repeated law-firm table attributing a general formation / membership / support scheme to Penal Code Arts. 203-205 was NOT verified - no such general scheme was found in the official text - and must NOT be used. There is no standalone organised-crime decree.

Possibly — unconfirmed

Reported range, not yet confirmed against official text. Do not rely on this — awaiting confirmation.

Statutory range — reported, not yet confirmed

Penal Code Art. 188 - anti-regime association / group / gangPossibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Death penalty or life imprisonment
Fine: —

Establishing, founding, organising, administering, leading or joining any association, entity, organisation, formation, group, gang or branch thereof aiming at or calling for overthrowing / seizing the regime, disrupting the Constitution or laws, contradicting the regime's basic principles, preventing State institutions / public authorities from conducting their business, violating personal freedom or public rights, or harming national unity or social peace. Same penalty for cooperating / participating in any manner or providing financial or material support knowing their purposes.

Penal Code Art. 189 - propagating Art. 188 actsPossibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Imprisonment: 15-25 years
Fine: —

Propagating verbally, in writing or by any other means any of the acts stated in Art. 188. Same penalty for personally / through an intermediary possessing or acquiring documents, printed materials or records comprising such propagation / advocacy prepared for distribution or third-party access, and for possessing / acquiring any printing, recording or publicising means used or prepared for use in such propagation.

Penal Code Art. 190 - group / gang against State safety or interestsPossibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Death penalty or life imprisonment
Fine: —

Establishing, founding, organising, administering or joining any association, entity, organisation, formation, group or gang or any branch thereof aiming / seeking / working to prejudice the safety or interests of the State. Same penalty for cooperating in any manner or providing financial or material support knowing their purposes.

AML Art. 26(2)(c) - money laundering through an organised criminal group (AGGRAVATOR)Possibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Temporary imprisonment (term not specified in article)
Fine: AED 1,000,000 - AED 10,000,000 or twice the value of the criminal property, whichever is greater

Aggravated form of the money-laundering offence: base offence Art. 26(1) is imprisonment of 1-10 years + fine AED 100,000 - AED 5,000,000 (or the value of the criminal property, whichever is greater). The (2)(c) tier applies where the act is committed through an organised criminal group. Mechanism only - the organised-group element raises the predicate penalty; it is not a standalone organised-crime offence.

Narcotics Arts. 57-58 - offender belongs to a hostile group or organised gang (AGGRAVATOR)Possibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Death penalty or life imprisonment (Art. 58); death penalty (Art. 57)
Fine: —

Aggravator raising the penalty for the scheduled narcotics offences where the offender belongs to a hostile group or organised gang or works for its benefit. Schedule-specific base penalties are not folded in. Mechanism only - not a standalone organised-crime offence.

Cybercrime Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 Art. 30 - online facilitation of illicit financial flowsPossibly — unconfirmed

Imprisonment: Imprisonment up to 10 years
Fine: AED 100,000 - AED 5,000,000

Transferring / concealing / acquiring illicit financial flows through an information network, and creating / managing / supervising a website or disseminating data to facilitate or incite those acts. Related to organised financial crime online; not a general organised-crime offence.

Note on this entry

Last verified 2026-10-19. Arts. 188 / 190 penalties are death or life imprisonment as written. Where an article says 'temporary imprisonment' with no numbers, the Penal Code Art. 69 default is 3-15 years. The AML and Narcotics tiers below are AGGRAVATORS of their own predicate offences, not standalone organised-crime offences. No Diya amount stated. Art. 187 (2021 Code) was NOT verified against 2021 text - the search results returned only the repealed 1987 Code's Art. 187 - so it is not cited here.

Source

Statute: Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 (Penal Code), Arts. 188-190; Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2018 (AML/CFT), Art. 26(2)(c); Decree-Law No. 30 of 2021 (Narcotics), Arts. 57-58; Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 (Cybercrime), Art. 30
Official source: uaelegislation.gov.ae (Legislation 1529, Penal Code) via search-indexed official text; Litt Law mirror of uaelegislation.gov.ae portal text for AML Art. 26 - NON-OFFICIAL mirror for that tier; ADGM-hosted official PDF for Cybercrime Art. 30
Verification status
Last verified: 2026-10-19

Not legal advice. This range is the statutory penalty as written in the law — it is not “your sentence.” What is NOT accounted for here: Priors, plea, judicial discretion; predicate-offence penalties (each underlying crime punished separately under its own article); confiscation / asset forfeiture; deportation of foreign convicts; terrorism-organisation provisions (Decree-Law No. 7 of 2014) where the facts meet the terrorism definition; whether Art. 188 or Art. 190 applies turns on the group's aim, which is a fact question.. If you face a real charge, consult a licensed lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.