Dogs help foil bid to smuggle 5m drug pills worth Dh110m
dubai — Sniffer dogs helped the Dubai Customs foil an attempt to smuggle five million Captagon pills — concealed in a container of motor spare parts — into the country through the Jebel Ali Free Zone.
The illegal shipment was tracked by the customs intelligence personnel, who shared the information and images of the shipment through the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (Rilo), according to a top official.
Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director of Dubai Customs, said the container in which the contraband was hidden, was scanned and examined with K-9 sniffing dogs unit.
“Up to five million Captagon pills weighing 500kg were seized,” he said. “This raises the number of Captagon pills seized since January 2018 to 15 million.”
Sources told Khaleej Times that the seized narcotic pills were worth over Dh110 million.
Official records show that Jebel Ali and Tecom customs centre has made 19 seizures between 2016 and 2019. “These included 225 million narcotic pills and 51kg of other drugs.”
Musabih added that the inspectors are “always on their toes” to thwart attempts to smuggle any illegal contraband. “The sophisticated scanning gadgets also play a major role.”
Shuaib Al Suwaidi, customs intelligence director at the Dubai Customs, revealed that they track shipments on their way to Dubai’s entry points “based on numerous data and intelligence resources”.
Up to five million Captagon pills weighing 500kg were seized. This raises the number of Captagon pills seized since January 2018 to 15 million.” Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director, Dubai Customs
How it was detected
Rilo, a regional centre for collecting and analysing data, disseminates information throughout the global customs network, Al Suwaidi explained. “It alerted Dubai Customs that the drug shipment was in a nearby country,” he added.
“The Jebel Ali and Tecom customs centre tracked the consignment that was concealed in a container of motor spare parts coming from a country that doesn’t normally trade with spare parts.”
The container was detected through the smart Vessel Tracking System, developed by the Dubai Customs, he pointed out. “The contraband was then seized.”
The centre tracked the consignment that was concealed in a container of motor spare parts coming from a country that doesn’t normally trade with spare parts.” Shuaib Al Suwaidi, customs intelligence director, Dubai Customs