Abu Dhabi: Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle over 2 million narcotic pills out of the UAE and into a neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country, officials said on Sunday.
An Arab national working as a blacksmith has been arrested on charges of attempted drugs smuggling.
Over 2,236,985 pills were found hidden in ten sacks and a bag at his rented house in Al Ain, police said in a statement.
According to officials, the drugs were brought into the UAE by sea, hidden in a machine used for drying fruit and vegetables. The suspects were allegedly using the UAE as a transit point to transport the pills into another GCC country for sale, officials said.
Police did not reveal "the neighbouring GCC country" intended as the drugs' final destination. They also did not specify when the alleged drug bust took place, the nature of the drugs or what the estimated worth is.
Abu Dhabi Police were able to bust the alleged smuggling attempt in cooperation with the Interior Ministry of the GCC country.
Tip-off
"We received a tip-off that an Arab national identified as AAA was planning to smuggle drugs to a Gulf country from the UAE," Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Ahmad Al Hammadi, director of the Criminal Investigation Department of Abu Dhabi Police, said.
An undercover Interior Ministry official of the GCC country posed as a potential drug buyer, which together with the UAE officials helped nab the accused dealer, said Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Sawayeh Al Darmaki, head of the Anti-Narcotics Unit.
According to police, by monitoring the suspects they were able to crack a secret code that was key in the transaction of the drugs. Police said the buyer was to say that he was from "Bu Staif" to which the dealer was to reply: "The birds are in the nest".
According to the officials, they used this information to get the suspect to lead them to the pills hidden at his residence.
"The vigilance of the police led to the arrest of the accused and seizure of the drugs," Al Hammadi said.
The accused was working in a workshop in the Industrial area in Al Ain. According to police, when arrested he confessed to being in possession of the drugs but claimed that the shipment belonged to his relative, who is a GCC resident. He also claimed that he received the shipment without realising it contained drugs, police said.
Al Darmaki noted that this is not the first time the UAE has cooperated with other countries to bring criminals to justice.
