Fake humanitarian shipments, falsified documents, and a cast of 13 individuals and six companies, are among the key findings revealed by UAE authorities on Thursday in the Sudan arms smuggling case.
A $13 million deal, which included Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and grenades bound for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), one of the two main parties in the war, has now been referred to the court, alongside a second $2 million transaction that included a plane landing in the UAE carrying ammunition.
"Counsellor Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, Attorney-General of the UAE, has ordered the referral of 13 defendants and six UAE-registered companies to the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal (State Security Court), on charges of illicit trafficking in military materiel, forgery, and money laundering," said an official statement.
The suspected ringleaders include a Sudanese businessman, Rashed Omar Abdul Qader Ali, the army’s recently appointed chief of staff and a former national security adviser.
The disclosure, marking one year since the case first surfaced publicly on April 30, 2025, amounts to the most detailed account yet of how a smuggling network tried to weaponise the UAE's financial infrastructure and its territory to service one of the world's bloodiest conflicts.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), locked in a devastating war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, have been accused by the US, EU and other countries of committing crimes and using chemical weapons. Their rivals have also been accused of war crimes.
Despite the killing of thousands and the displacement of millions, the country remains far from a ceasefire, with Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, chief of the SAF, insisting there will be no halt to the fighting until the RSF is completely defeated.
Two deals
Authorities in the UAE say the network comprised 13 individuals, at least five of whom are currently in UAE custody, and six companies.
The investigation centred on two deals in particular. In the first, the conspirators routed financing for a weapons purchase through the UAE's banking system. In the second, a cargo plane, its manifest doctored to show humanitarian goods, was intercepted on UAE soil.
“Cargo nature: humanitarian aid/medical” was listed on the requests for the plane, which was carrying weapons, to land and depart the UAE. “Consignee: Federal Ministry of Health, Republic of Sudan,” added the document seen by The National.
Four additional deals are believed to be part of a bigger scheme.
"Investigations further revealed that the scheme extended beyond the seized shipment, including preparations to smuggle an additional five million rounds of Goryunov ammunition through six further transactions. The disruption of the first shipment prevented the execution of these operations," said the official statement.
The main focus of the case is an attempt to use the UAE's financial ecosystem to launder the paper trail of illegal arms transfers. Suspects forged documents within the country, authorities say. Media present at a briefing were shown text messages, receipts, and voice recordings tied to the alleged transactions.
Several suspects sit at the centre of the network, with the main individual being the Sudanese businessman who owns and operates companies between the UAE and Sudan, described as the primary facilitator and the connection between all parties.
General Yasser Al Atta, a member of the country's Sovereign Council and the Chief of Staff of SAF, stands accused of initiating the procurement. Salah Gosh, a former national security advisor, allegedly brokered the introduction between the businessman and the arms dealers.
Anger and commissions
In one of the voice recordings, a man can be heard angrily shouting at the main company's owner and facilitator, demanding that the plane leave immediately rather than wait until the next day. "Why 9am? they won't accept," he said. The aircraft was later captured.
Of the $13 million, $10 million went toward actual weapons and logistics. The remaining $3 million was distributed as illicit commissions among network members, the investigation found.
In November 2025, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement acknowledging that investigators had wrapped up a probe into a foiled smuggling attempt and that suspects were being referred to the judiciary.
More than a dozen countries are believed to be arming both sides of Sudan’s war, which the UAE has called to end without either side playing a role in future governance and with a return to civilian rule.
Last week, Khalid Yousif, a former cabinet minister of Sudan’s short-lived civilian government, said Iranian arms supplies to Islamist-aligned factions within Sudan’s military have been continuing throughout the country’s civil war.
