UAE suspends import of poultry from Philippines
abu dhabi — In response to the registration of highly pathogenic avian flu in the Philippines, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCaE) has banned the import of all kinds of live domestic and wild birds and poultry from the affected province of Pampanga.
In a statement issued on Monday, Dr Majid Sultan Al Qasimi, director of the animal health and development department, noted that the ban also extends to ornamental birds, hatching eggs and their waste which is not treated thermally. Additionally, imports of poultry meat and thermally untreated products and eggs from the affected province of Pampanga are prohibited. Thermally treated poultry products and poultry
abu dhabi — The UAE, in joint operations with Saudi Arabia and Oman, arrested 12 drug traffickers and seized around 158kg of hashish and Dh2.7 million worth captagon tablets during the first half of 2017. These were done in four separate operations.
Colonel Saeed Abdullah Al Suwaidi, director-general of the federal anti–drugs control department and deputy chairman of the anti-narcotics council, said that anti-narcotics departments of the Abu Dhabi Police and the Sharjah Police collected confidential information that helped in seizing a large amount of drugs.
Al Suwaidi thanked the Ministry of Interior and the anti-narcotics agencies in Saudi Arabia and Oman, for their prompt action and cooperation. Colonel Taher Ghareeb Al Dhaheri, director of the drug control department of the Abu Dhabi Police, said that diversifying the sources of security information resulted in the effective collection of undercover intelligence, which confirmed the involvement of a network of drug smugglers and dealers in the Gulf region.
After collecting intelligence about this network, it became apparent that the suspects intended to smuggle large amounts of hashish, weighing around 50kg, from Yemen to the UAE through Oman, he added. He added that cooperation from Omani authorities led to the arrest of the main suspect.
The suspect resisted the police by trying to escape but was captured. A gun was found in his possession, along with 31 bullets, as well as Dh50,000 as a payment to the smuggler. The suspect will be presented to the courts for trial.
In two other operations, criminal network in one of the Arab countries that smuggle hashish and captagon to Saudi Arabia through the UAE was exposed. Based on the information, the shipment of narcotics was tracked until it crossed the UAE’s land borders, which resulted in the arrest and eventual trial of suspects. n the fourth operation, Lieutenant Colonel Majid Sultan Al Asm, deputy director of the anti-narcotics department of the Sharjah Police, said the undercover intelligence they received led them to a criminal network residing in an Arab country, which intended to smuggle Dh2.656 million worth of captagon pills to Saudi Arabia through the UAE.
Saudi authorities welcomed them to conduct the undercover operations which led to the arrest. Colonel Said Al Kuwaiti, director-general of Drug Control Federation and deputy chairman of the anti-narcotics council, pointed out the importance of international cooperation in combatting drug trafficking.
amira@khaleejtimes.com