Sharjah: Police in Sharjah have arrested members of a major drug-smuggling ring, seizing 300kg of hashish worth Dh2 million and 1,270,000 Captagon pills worth Dh44 million in what is described as the biggest drug bust in the emirate in recent years.
Three men were arrested in a joint operation by the Sharjah Police and federal anti-narcotics officials following two raids in the emirate following a tip-off.
The details of the two operations were announced during a press conference at Sharjah Police headquarters on Monday. It was attended by Colonel Abdullah Mubarak Bin Amer, Deputy Chief of Sharjah Police; Colonel Mohammad Rashid Bayat, Director of Sharjah Police Operations; Major Majid Al Asel, Deputy at anti-narcotics department; Major Mohammad Al Khamiri, Director of drug awareness department, and Colonel Arif Bin Hudeib, Head of media and public relations department.
In the first operation dubbed ‘Gang of the Dark’, the police monitored the phones of suspected Arab and Asian drug traffickers following a tip-off. The first suspect was arrested from a warehouse in the industrial area of a neighbouring emirate. He had concealed the hashish in auto spare parts. The police recovered 300kg of hashish worth Dh2 million.
The suspect confessed that he had stored the drugs according to instructions from a supplier based outside the country and that he intended to promote and sell the hashish in the UAE.
In the second operation dubbed ‘Bags of Death’, police arrested two Arab men and seized 1,270,000 pills of Captagon worth Dh44 million.
The gang planned to use the country as a transit point to smuggle the drugs to other Gulf countries.
The arrests followed a tip-off about the gang storing the hashish inside a hotel apartment. However, the drugs could not be found initially and even K9 dogs failed to detect the consignment. The drugs were concealed in cylindrical metal cans fastened with iron plates and were smuggled into the country through overland borders.
The police have launched a manhunt for the suppliers and other members of the gang who are based outside the country.
Col Bin Amer said police are working to keep youngsters safe from drug traffickers.
“The UAE has a zero-tolerance policy towards illegal drug use and drug trafficking is a serious offence. The rate of illegal drug use in the UAE is low compared with international standards. Possession of the smallest amount of any illegal drug is punishable by a minimum of four years’ imprisonment,” he said.
The renewed war on drugs in schools, on streets and in public places is more important than ever, he added.
UAE is considered the first country in the Arab world and the fourth globally in identifying new drug trafficking trends and countering illicit production, trafficking and drug abuse.
Col Bin Amer said the most commonly used and trafficked drugs in the UAE are hashish, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine-type drugs and prescription drugs.
Drugs are not cultivated or produced in the UAE.
Pain relievers are the most common type of narcotic, which are taken illicitly and are the most common cause of overdoses, he said.
