Eight youth caught with 398 bags of ‘spice’ drugs

Abu Dhabi: Eight youth, including two college boys and three girls, were caught with 398 bags of ‘spice’ drugs.

The 21- to 28-year-olds were caught with over Dh125,000 made by selling the illicit substance.

Police said the suspects were identified as a GCC national, an Arab and three visiting Europeans among others who appeared to be involved in activities such as smuggling and promoting the drugs in the country.

Roles were assigned to different gang members, police said.

Colonel Sultan Suwayeh Al Darmaki, Chief of the Anti-Drug Section at the CID, said surveillance of the suspects which started after a tip-off was received about criminal activity led to their identification.

Officials came to know that the suspects were planning a meeting in Abu Dhabi, prompting police teams to track the gang members and apprehend them.

Al Darmaki highlighted the ministry’s efforts in combating substance abuse and its promotion due to the dangers of drug addiction.

Spice is a synthetic cannabinoid which mimics the effects of marijuana and is usually available as a herbal incense sold online.

It has been labelled as a Schedule I drug and can also be known as Space or K2. Last year, Gulf News reported that Space, Spice and K2 have been included in the list of prohibited drugs by the Ministry of Health. This list can be found online and residents are urged to refer to it before making online purchases of medicines and other substances.

“Over half of the drug offenders in the UAE in 2014 were using new psychoactive or mind-altering substances,” Gulf News quoted the Federal General Department of Anti-Narcotics as saying earlier.

Synthetic psychotropic substances are constantly changing to make them easier to smuggle into countries and Spice was first seen around the world four years ago, an expert from the department said.

“Since then, its chemical structure has been altered 113 times,” Hatem Fouad Ali, representative and head of the GCC office at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said earlier.

Even more dangerous are synthetic cathinones marketed as ‘bath salts’. These mimic the effects of ecstasy and cocaine.

Both synthetic cathinones and cannabinoids come with a ‘not fit for human consumption’ disclaimer to remove legal liability from their manufacturer.

Col Dr Rashid Mohammad Borshid, head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), warned against the dangers of spice addiction, adding that this substance is more harmful than other synthetic and traditional drugs.