Dubai Police bust drug gang in border raid

dubai — The Dubai Police have seized 3kg of heroin and 3,600 grams of crystal amphetamines after busting a drug smuggling ring at the UAE border.

On May 4, the Dubai Police’s antinarcotic department foiled an international drug smuggling operation at Ghuweifat and arrested a gang of three Asian truck drivers. The third gang member was accused of contacting and coordinating with the heads of drug trafficking gangs based outside the country.

According to Major-General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, assistant commander-in-chief of criminal investigation at the Dubai Police, the operation was a success due to the efficiency of the antinarcotics officers, who wasted no time in heading to the Ghuweifat border after receiving a tip-off about the gang.

The accused were trying to cross the border, with the intention of smuggling a large amount of drugs into another state. A team of drug control officers intercepted the gang and arrested them.

Colonel Eid Mohammed Thani Harib, director of the general department of anti-narcotics at the Dubai Police, explained that following the investigation, the third defendant was identified as the head of the gang. He was waiting in a truck when the police arrested him, and was receiving instructions from one of the heads of a drug smuggling gang living outside the country.

This gang member would pay the other two suspects with the profits earned after each smuggling operation. Colonel Harib added that the accused drove a Mercedes truck and used it to transport goods across the Gulf. Police found the crystal amphetamines and heroin from within the truck.

As the narcotics team conducted its search on the truck, its head asked the authorities to conduct an X-ray scan on the truck. This was how they found the drugs, hidden in secret caches in the driver’s compartment cabin, hidden thoroughly.

Among other charges, the first and second accused were charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of peddling, trafficking and abuse. The third accused has been additionally charged with possession of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for peddling.— amira@khaleejtimes.com