Dubai: The Dubai Police recently busted a large cocaine smuggling operation and seized the substance with a street value of more than Dh2 million, with the arrest of a passenger at Dubai International Airport.
The African man, M.A.N, who arrived in Dubai from Sao Paulo, Brazil, attracted attention as he was behaving in a suspicious manner, said Major General Abdul Jaleel Mahdi, director general of the General Department of Combating Narcotics at Dubai Police.
Six stacks of 12 large metal screws were found in M.A.N.'s first piece of luggage, which upon thorough inspection revealed that they were hollow. The suspect hid the cocaine in 24 large screws, Maj Gen Mahdi said.
Another six stacks with 12 large screws were hidden in the second piece of luggage. Based on a report from the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology at Dubai Police it was determined there was 335g of cocaine stashed inside every screw.
The total quantity was 8.4kg of cocaine, said Maj Gen Mahdi.
Another smuggling operation was also busted recently when a Nigerian woman was arrested by Dubai Customs officers at Dubai International Airport while allegedly trying to smuggle 7kg of cocaine in her luggage.
The woman was flying in from Lagos to Dubai on a business trip when customs officials seized the drugs that were concealed in secret compartments in her luggage.
Meanwhile, Dubai Customs officials halted a second attempt to smuggle drugs in less than one week by an African woman.
The suspect was trying to smuggle three kilograms of crystal meth drugs which are banned worldwide. She was coming from an African country to Dubai when custom inspectors at Dubai airport's Terminal 1 had suspicions about the passenger and asked to search her.
Upon searching, they found five plastic bags wrapped with brown tape and hidden in the sides and bottom of the suitcase. Customs officials handed the suspect over to Dubai Police for further investigations.
— With additional inputs from WAM
Contact
The General Department for Combating Narcotics at Dubai Police has urged the public to cooperate with the police with any information regarding narcotics on their toll-free number 800 400 400.
