1,560-kg of drugs worth Dh1.5 billion seized in Dubai last year
58 websites promoting the sale of drugs inside the country were also blocked
Dubai: Anti-narcotic police in Dubai seized 1,560-kg of drugs worth Dh1.5 billion and arrested 3,128 addicts and dealers last year, an official has said. That figure is up 211 per cent from the 501-kg seized the year before signalling a massive victory on the war on drugs for local authorities.
Major-General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said that that 14.8 million pills of illegal painkillers were seized and the majority of suspects were addicts.
“Dubai Police will strike the drug dealers and foil their smuggling attempts to protect the society from this disease. We had successful operations in fighting drugs and arrested major drug dealers by using latest technologies,” said Maj-Gen Al Mansouri.
Dubai Police provided information about drug smuggling attempts outside the country by providing 93 tip offs to different countries, which helped arrest 27 suspects and the seizure of 11.9 tonnes of drugs.
“Dubai Police always believes that fighting drugs needs international cooperation. We helped different countries in their work against drugs by providing tips to foil international drug smuggling operations,” he added.
Brigadier Eid Mohammad Thani Hareb, director of Anti-Narcotic Department at Dubai Police, said that Dubai Police also helped other emirates in arresting 215 suspects last year and seizure of 572-kg of drugs in other emirates.
Website promoting drugs
Dubai Police also blocked 58 websites last year compared to 44 sites in 2018, in the continuing push to curb online purchases of illegal drugs from outside the UAE.
“Constant monitoring of the internet is keeping some illicit drugs out of the country. Dubai police regularly monitor suspicious websites that sell drugs through electronic patrols,” said Brig Hareb.
He said that the electronic patrols search the internet every day to detect the suspicious sites and then coordinate with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to block them.
Major drug operation in 2019
In May of last year, Dubai Police seized 365-kg of drugs worth Dh278.5 million in a major operation titled ‘Stalker’.
Police arrested 16 Asian suspects who had hidden drugs in secret storage rooms across the country including concealing the drugs in the spare parts of used vehicles.