Dh35m worth of drugs seized in Dubai this year

Dubai: There has been a noticeable increase in the number of narcotics cases in Dubai due to the international increase in production and consumption of narcotics, a senior police official has said.

Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Acting Chief of Dubai Police, revealed the number of people and cases related to narcotics reported in Dubai in the first five months of this year.

He said there has been an increase in the number of cases, people involved and the amounts seized in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Symposium

The announcement came during the fourth annual symposium to discuss the narcotics issue under the title Narcotics and HIV/Aids from religious, health, social and legal perspectives, The symposium coincides with World Anti-Narcotics Day which is observed on June 26 every year.

According to statistics, there has been an increase in the number of cases with 465 cases compared to 338 in 2007. There has also been an increase in the number of people involved with 575 people compared to 433 people in 2007.

Around 181kg of narcotics were seized this year compared to 104kg last year with an increase of around 76 per cent.

"There were 14 major narcotics related cases this year and this involved the arrest of 27 suspects and seizure of around 70kg of narcotics worth Dh35 million," Major General Al Mazeina said.

He said the narcotics in most cases were meant to be smuggled outside the country by making the UAE and Dubai specifically a crossing point due to its geographical location.

Major General Al Mazeina said Dubai Police's Anti-Narcotics Department cooperates with local authorities in addition to international forces regarding combating this menace.

One local example is an operation in which seven Emirati drug peddlers were arrested after a three-month long operation.

"Currently, there is a European national detained here in a case related to narcotics in Spain. This is part of the coordination with international authorities."

Major General Al Mazeina said 195 people were currently on a drug addiction treatment programme. He said this year the narcotics problem had been connected to HIV/Aids because narcotics are one of the methods that contribute to the spread of HIV/Aids via the use of polluted needles.

Hashish gang held

Dubai Police have arrested a gang who tried to sell 19 kilograms of hashish.

Dubai Police's Anti-Narcotics Department foiled the attempt by the gang to sell the hashish. The department had received a tip-off that an Asian man possessed hashish and wanted to sell it for Dh80,000.

A police source posed as a buyer and agreed to buy the hashish. CID carried out a raid and arrested the main suspect and his companions identified as Abbas M., Zeenat K., Ejaz A. and Zafar A. Police found with them another nine kg of hashish.