Dubai Police played a leading role in what is believed to be the largest single drugs bust ever. A massive 13.765 tonnes of hashish worth Dh60 million were seized in a trail covering four continents. Dubai was used as the transit point for the drugs which were smuggled out of Afghanistan and bound for several countries. Police arrested five Afghans and four Indians. Investigators are hunting for the mastermind and kingpin of the gang. Assistant Commander in Chief of Criminal Investigation Affairs Brigadier Sharafuddin Al Sayed Sharaf said, “Dubai Police in coordination with a number of friendly countries were following this trail for the last five months. We received a tipoff about the operation and kept a watch on the ports. When the shipments arrived at Port Rashid, personnel from the Anti-Narcotics Department inspected the containers but found nothing. The containers had marble, fruits, tyres besides other goods. Sniffer dogs were then brought in and they led us to the drugs.” Some of the drugs were found in the marble.
1775 American troops under Benedict Arnold invade Quebec Province in Canada.
1885 Serbia declares war on Bulgaria over possession of Eastern Rumelia.
1889 American journalist Nellie Bly sets out to travel around the world in 72 days.
1922 The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom.
1940 German bombers destroy most of the English city of Coventry in Second World War.
1947 The United Nations recognises Korea’s claim to independence.
1954 The first President of Egypt, Mohammad Najeeb, resigns.
1957 Britain declares Bahrain an independent state under British protection.
1960 Two passenger trains collide in Czechoslovakia, killing 110 people and injuring 105.
1969 Apollo 12 blasts off for the moon.
1970 Cyclone and giant waves devastate East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) with death toll estimated at 300,000.
1975 Spain, Morocco and Mauritania sign accord on Spanish Sahara.
1986 The 27th Chess Olympiad opens in Dubai.
1989 Black nationalist movement Swapo wins a solid majority in Namibia’s first national election.
1991 Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Cambodia after 13 years of exile.
1993 New Dubal turbine on stream is inaugurated.
1994 Tropical Storm Gordon kills at least 829 people in Haiti.
1999 The United Nations imposes sanctions on Afghanistan and demands the arrest of Osama Bin Laden.
2002 Jiang Zemin retires as the head of China’s Communist Party.
2003 The dwarf planet Sedna is discovered.
2005 Hundreds of heavily armed Maoist rebels storm a jail in Jehanabad, Bihar, killing at least three people and freeing about 350 prisoners.
2007 The prime ministers of North and South Korea meet in Seoul for the first time in 15 years.
2008 A lunar probe from India lands successfully on the moon.
2009 New Zealand qualifies for the Fifa World Cup finals for the second time after 28 years.
2010 Sebastian Vettel wins the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix title at Yas Marina.
2011 Three French aid workers are released by alleged Al Qaida group in Yemen after six months in captivity.
2012 Israel kills Ahmad Al Jabari, military commander of the Islamist group Hamas in a missile strike in Gaza Strip.
2014 EU gives the go-ahead for Etihad Airways to become the largest shareholder in loss-making Alitalia.
2015 Opposition Niger presidential candidate Hama Amadou is arrested on his return from exile.
