Sharjah Police foil 200 drug trafficking attempts worth Dh135 million
Many of the narcotics were promoted on social media, show figures from 2021 to May 2022
Sharjah: Sharjah Police’s Anti Narcotics Department seized Dh135 million worth of drugs since the beginning of 2021 until May 2022.
According to the annual police report, officials also handled 200 drug trafficking cases in the same period. Police seized 822kg of crystal meth, 94kg of hashish, 251kg of heroin, and 4.6 million drug tablets.
Meanwhile, Sharjah Police organised 81 anti-drug awareness events, 58.8 per cent more than the previous year, which contributed to an increase in the number of beneficiaries by 37.8 per cent.
Drugs on social media
Lieutenant Colonel Majed Al Asam, director of the Drug Control Department, said that ways of trafficking drugs vary according to the evolution of technology. Drug cartels have been trading electronically, randomly sending messages, pictures and voice notes through social media to deliver the drugs anywhere in the country.
He added that the department successfully foiled large drug operations exceeding 200 field and electronic promoting procedures, including a seizure of more that 4.6 million drug tablets and more than 1,630kg of narcotic substances with a market value of Dh135 million.
Challenges
Challenges the world faces in the today’s reality and through cyberspace are enormous, with the spread of social media that became available in all hands, the director added.
“As security agencies, we must take responsibility to prevent society from this threat, using the best innovative digital technologies and practices applied globally to preserve the stability of Sharjah’s community in particular, and to make the UAE one of the world’s best in addressing the scourge of drugs,” he said.