Dubai: Dubai Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1.1 million Captagon pills to the country and arrested four suspects.
According to Dubai Police, the four men were residents in the UAE and the shipment’s estimated street value is Dh58 million ($15.8 million). The suspects tried to smuggle the illegal pills in a refrigerated container containing boxes of lemon. Drugs were hidden in plastic containers in the lemon shipment.
The Anti-Narcotic Department at the Dubai Police received information about an international drug gang planning to smuggle Captagon pills hidden in a refrigerated container containing fruits and vegetables from an Arab country to the UAE.
Major General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said they formed a task force and coordinated with Dubai Customs upon receiving the information.
Hidden in lemon boxes
“The drugs were hidden in a shipment of lemons inside an incoming refrigerated container. We monitored the suspects and arrested the man who received the shipment, drove it into the emirate and eventually led us to the remaining three suspects,” Maj Gen Al Mansouri said in a statement.
Brigadier Eid Hareb, Director of the Anti-narcotics, said their teams closely monitored and traced the suspects and arrested them successfully.
What the syspected rounded up
“The refrigerator container was transferred by the first suspect from the port to the destination where two other suspects helped him unload the cargo and load it into a bigger refrigerated lorry “, Brig Hareb said.
On the following day, the first suspect entered the refrigerator and spent more than two hours rearranging the fake and real lemons while the fourth suspect was waiting for him outside.
“We arrested him along with the fourth suspect, while the other two suspects were arrested by a different task force who were closely monitoring their movements,” he added.
66 boxes of drugs
Dubai Police said the refrigerator contained 3,840 boxes of lemons, 66 of which had fake lemons containing the Captagon pills.
“Early prevention through awareness programmes is one of the best strategies to immune our youth against drugs and addiction,” Brig Hareb said.
Moreover, Lieutenant-General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, praised the efforts of the officers in combating organised crime and protecting society against drugs.
