Sniffer dog helps cops seize drugs worth DH1.8B THE ELUSIVE GANG LEADER
dubai — The Dubai Police have revealed how man’s best friend helped them bust a bid to smuggle drug pills with a street value of Dh1.8 billion. A special operation named after a police dog called Pule helped the cops seize 5.6 tonnes of Captagon pills. The gang — helmed by a 70-year-old Arab based in Sharjah — tried to smuggle the pills through a shipment of electricity cables from Syria to Jebel Ali. The shipment was to be reexported to another Arab country, investigations showed.
The septuagenarian suspect used to receive financial aid from a charity organisation after claiming to be unemployed, the police said.
Addressing a Press conference on Wednesday, Maj-Gen Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-inChief of the Dubai Police, said ‘operation Pule 2’ involved officers searching and investigating over 200 containers to detect the drugs. Within 10 days, the well-trained dog Pule sniffed out the entire illegal consignment. The police’s anti-narcotics division then monitored trucks used to transport the cables with the drugs to Sharjah and Ajman. The 15-day surveillance led the police to the four Arab smugglers — the 70-year-old, his assistant and two truck drivers — who were caught red-handed on January 28 this year.
Lt-Col Khalid bin Muwaiza, acting director of the anti-narcotics department, said further investigations revealed the smuggling bid was made in partnership with the 70-year-old suspect’s brother, who is based in a “Eurasian country”.
The police said Pule has previously helped the police bust three other drug smuggling bids. > He is 70 years old and based in Sharjah
> He claimed to be unemployed and received financial aid from a charity organisation.