Umm Al Quwain: An Emirati fisherman who went out to sea in Umm Al Quwain on his daily fishing trip returned with the most unlikely catch of the season: A bag with 40 kg of drugs inside it.
The fisherman, who found a suspicious looking bag floating on the surface of the sea, netted it into his boat, promptly informed the coast guard and handed it over to them at Al Maidan in Umm Al Quwain.
Coincidentally, a beachgoer had spotted another packet thrown on the beach and had informed the operations room of Umm Al Quwain Police, who found that it contained 4kg of drugs.
While the police are investigating the two separate incidents, the Umm Al Quwain Police General Command honoured the fisherman and the beachgoer for their alertness and due intimation of the authorities.
Umm Al Quwain Police, represented by the Narcotics Department, organised an educational workshop yesterday at the Oud Al Tayer Majlis in Al Salama area to educate fishermen about how to deal with narcotics found in the sea.
The workshop was attended by Brigadier Khamis Salem Buharoun, Director General of Police Operations at Umm Al Quwain Police, Mohammad Issa Al Kashf, Member of the Federal National Council, Jassem Hamid Ghanem, head of the Umm Al Quwain Fishermen’s Association and a number of officers and fishermen.
The workshop dealt with the mechanism of dealing with suspicious substances, methods of informing the security authorities and determining the location, without touching the items until the authorities approved. Samples of narcotic substances that some may see on the beach or the sea were also presented in addition to developing an action plan to deal with the same.
Jassim Hamid Ghanem, head of the Umm Al Quwain Fishermen’s Association, praised the efforts of the Ministry of Interior and Umm Al Quwain Police in combating drugs, and their concern for the safety of the public, stressing that the association will cooperate with the police to spread awareness among fishermen, citizens, seafarers and their families to intensify efforts to report suspicious substances.
