The Arab suspects with seized captagon pills and (right) the Asian suspect taking out the hashish hidden inside truck spare parts.
Sharjah - The suspect told the police that he was a member of the gang, which is operating from outside the country.
Published: Mon 23 Jan 2017, 12:51 PM
Last updated: Mon 23 Jan 2017, 11:25 PM
The Sharjah Police recently busted two drug trafficking gangs in separate operations and seized 300kg of hashish worth Dh2 million and more than one million captagon pills worth Dh44 million.
During the operations titled ‘The Darkness Gang’ and ‘Suitcases of Death’, the police also managed to arrest an Asian man and two Arab nationals, said a senior police official at a Press conference on Monday.
The suspect told the police that he was a member of the gang, which is operating from outside the country. Col. Abdallah Mubarak bin Amer said the gang used heavy truck spare parts to store the hashish in warehouses in the Sharjah industrial area.
The police received a tip-off about the two cases and immediately formed a team of officers to launch an investigation to confirm the information and arrest the culprits.
During the investigation, the officers managed to identify the Asian suspect. In coordination with the federal police, the Sharjah Police arrested the suspect from another emirate.
He told the police that he was operating with accomplices who are based outside the country, and he was waiting for their instruction to sell the drug.
He also informed the police that they planned to distribute some of the quantity in the UAE and to smuggle the rest through the trucks to a neighbouring country and other GCC countries.
In the second operation titled ‘Suitcases of Death’, two Arab nationals based in the UAE were arrested and 1,270000 of captagon pills worth Dh44 million were seized.
The gang included two others based in another country.
The gang members were planning to sell the pills packed in plastic bags and placed in suitcases, the officer said. “After getting information about the suspects, surveillance was maintained and it was learnt that the suspects were using a furnished apartment in Sharjah as a hub for storing the drugs.
Colonel Mohammed Rashid Bayat, Director of the Police Operations, said that the police arrested the suspects, who confessed to having other partners operating from another country.
The Sharjah Police have urged the public to report any suspected activity to the police by calling 999 in case of emergency and 909 if it’s not an emergency. Col Bayat stressed on the pivotal role played by families, schools and society in spreading awareness among the youth that drugs could be fatal.
Colonel Abdallah bin Amer praised the great role played by police officials in foiling the attempts of drug dealers to sell the contraband, especially the captagon pills which is sold at lower prices than other drugs.
“The security authority in the UAE will strongly consider any information regarding suspects in drug cases,” he said while confirming that there is no way the UAE will be a hub for drug trafficking or selling.”
The drug seizures at a glance
The Darkness Gang operation
One Asian arrested
Dh2 million worth of hashish seized
The drug was hidden inside truck spare parts in warehouses in Sharjah
Rest of the gang members operated from outside the country
The Suitcases of Death
Two Arab nationals arrested
1.27 million captagon pills seized
The pills covered in plastic were kept inside suitcases in an apartment in Sharjah
Two more gang members operated from another country
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com
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