Dubai: Two Arab men were arrested and 6.5 million Captagon pills worth around Dh65 million were seized in a truck in Ras Al Khor Area, the Dubai Police chief revealed.
This is the third Captagon seizure this year by Dubai Police, as they seized 17.7 million Captagon pills and 4.89 million in two separate operations earlier.
Captagon is an amphetamine-type of drug.
Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police Chief, said that the pills were smuggled in 165 large metal pipes.
“The drugs were hidden using a new technique that we have never seen before in drug smuggling operations in the UAE.”
He explained that the pipes were custom-made for smuggling the drugs. There was an outer pipe and an inner pipe welded together, and in between the two there was a vacuum that was filled with the pills.
“The pills were hidden in the gap between the outer pipe and inner pipe. It would be very hard for a customs inspector to think that there is something suspicious about the pipes as they looked normal.” Maj Gen Al Mazeina said.
The drugs came into Dubai through Jebel Ali Port, then one of the suspects moved the shipment to a storage facility in Fujairah.
“The suspect then rented a truck and transported all the pipes back to Dubai, where he parked it in a truck parking area in Ras Al Khor while he was looking for someone to export them to a nearby GCC country,” he said.
Dubai Police received a tip-off from a trusted source that A.A.A. and A.N.S. were in possession of a large amount of drugs and that they were keeping it in a parked rented truck.
A team ambushed A.A.A. near Dragon Mall in International City, who led them to the truck and confessed that he had met A.N.S. in their home country and he told him about the shipment.
“The expertise of the Anti-Narcotics Department team was what uncovered how the pills were hidden,” he said.
A.N.S. was arrested at his work place in a fruits and vegetables company in Al Aweer.
Both men were transferred to the public prosecution after being charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of promotion and export.
