An Air Force veteran turned social media influencer has been jailed along with his brother in Dubai for violating the United Arab Emirates’ draconian laws on alcohol.
Joseph and Joshua Lopez say they’d been invited to two separate parties, one of which took place on a yacht, during a night out earlier in June. According to Detained in Dubai, a group committed to helping those who find themselves on the wrong side of the UAE’s strict legal system, the pair claim they were given laced drinks before being handed a massive tab of several thousand dollars for platters of food they hadn’t ordered.
Following their arrest, the organization says it’s reached out to a number of Ohio representatives—including Donald Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance—in hopes a “diplomatic intervention” might see the brothers returned safely to the U.S.
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“It’s clear they were targeted by scammers who were wanting to rob them,” Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai’s CEO, wrote in a statement. “They were given one drink aboard the yacht and the next thing they remember is being taken away by plain-clothed police officers in an unmarked vehicle.”
“They were under the impression they were being abducted,” she added. “The police did not test their blood for the presence of any drugs or sedatives despite the boys’ request for them to do so.”
After leaving US military service last year, Joseph became something of a social media star after competing in the Mister USA beauty pageant as “Mister Louisiana,” and traveling to the Middle Eastern country in hopes of generating new online content with his brother.
Dubai, whose construction boom has given it some of the world’s most famous buildings including the Burj al-Arab, has strict anti-alcohol laws and, say critics, a notoriously one-sided justice system.
Abdel Hadi Ramahi/ReutersThey’d previously been released on bond, with a travel ban put in place to prevent them from heading back home. Having been sentenced last week, they’re now due to serve one month in prison, though they still face a raft of further charges including assault of a police officer and damage to government property. The brothers will attend court again on August 20, and if convicted may well face a far lengthier stint in what Detained in Dubai describes as “some of the world’s most notorious prisons.”
The group has used the brothers’ case to slam the UAE for its treatment of Western tourists even as Dubai seeks to market itself as a safe destination for luxury travelers. “The government doesn’t seem to acknowledge crimes in the statistics they provide to the media or tourists,” Stirling said. “It’s a myth that Dubai is crime-free. They just don’t acknowledge it as it’s bad for business.”
