Police in UAE reveal most common drug smuggling methods

Dubai Customs had foiled a bid to smuggle opium in walnuts.- Supplied photo

Though smugglers have come up with 'clever, creative' methods to bring narcotics into the UAE, the police have been two steps ahead - busting several attempts and putting gangs behind bars. In a recent lecture, an officer revealed the most common drug smuggling methods that the police have seen and crushed.
Some stashed drugs in containers on ships. A number of them swallowed capsules filled with heroin and crystal meth, hoping they could get through airports. Others hid packets of narcotics in tyres and auto parts that were being transported on land across borders.
But authorities have foiled such bids and arrested the people behind them, said Colonel Taher Ghareeb Al Dhaheri, director of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate at the Criminal Security Sector of the Abu Dhabi Police.
In the lecture 'Prevention of Drug Damage', Col Al Dhaheri explained that all of the country's entry points - be it on land, at sea ports and airports - are equipped with modern, sophisticated systems of inspection and surveillance, which have been enhancing the police's ability to fight drug smugglers.
"This is part of an integrated national strategy to combat the scourge of narcotic drugs," said Col Al Dhaheri during the lecture organised by the Office of Council Affairs, which is affiliated with the Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Explaining how gangs have been trying to smuggle narcotics, he noted that maritime ports have become "permanent hotspots for drug trafficking".
Drug dealers take advantage of the large number of containers passing through the ports, sometimes posing challenges to seizure operations, Col Al Dhaheri said.
"For smuggling drugs through airports, the most common method used is swallowing the drugs in the form of pills and keeping them in their stomachs," he said.
The officer added that over the past two years, the police have also seized huge volumes of narcotics that were found hidden in trucks transporting goods into the country.
In some of major drug operations carried out by the Abu Dhabi Police this year, more than 423kg of heroin and crystal meth were seized and half a million pills were recovered after the force smashed a drug network that operated across the country.
In 2018, more than 1,000kg of drugs worth Dh200 million were seized from dealers and smugglers in Abu Dhabi.
SMUGGLING BIDS FOILED
1-ON LAND: Gangs tried hiding narcotics in tyres, auto parts of lorries
2-MARITIME PORTS: Dealers stash drugs in containers on ships, taking advantage of the large number of shipments passing through the ports
3-AIRPORTS: Smugglers swallow capsules filled with narcotics and keep them in their stomachs, hoping to get through the airport
ismail@khaleejtimes.com