UAE foils major drug trafficking attempt linked to international network

Two key locations raided by police

The suspects had connections to an international network, officials said. Photo: UAE Ministry of Interior

The UAE’s Ministry of Interior has arrested two men accused of smuggling thousands of narcotic pills into the country.

Police were monitoring the two suspects before raiding two key locations during the operation.

The first raid caught the accused at a site used to store narcotic pills while they were unloading and preparing for distribution within the country.

Mechanical construction equipment including an excavator machine, in which another quantity was hidden, was seized at a second site.

“The two Arab nationals have connections to an international drug trafficking network,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

“The suspects were caught in one location that was used to store the narcotic pills. The pills were extracted from the excavator and they were packing them to be distributed inside the UAE.”

The suspects were arrested at a storage facility. Photo: UAE Ministry of Interior

A global network

During interrogation, the suspects admitted to having other partners who prepared and smuggled the shipment from Hamburg, Germany, to one of the UAE’s ports.

“One of the suspects had entered the country on a visit visa to oversee the operation.”

The ministry didn’t disclose details of the suspects or the type of narcotics. According to the ministry, the suspects confessed that the ringleader resides outside the UAE and is responsible for financing and coordinating the entire operation.

A senior official at the ministry emphasised the importance of international co-operation in the fight against drug trafficking, to stop overseas criminal networks.

While the investigation is still continuing, the ministry said that it will chase the other suspects who are outside the country in collaboration with international agencies through the appropriate legal channels.

Earlier this week, Sharjah Police announced that an attempt to distribute 3.5 million Captagon pills had been successfully thwarted.

The illegal stimulant pills, totalling about 585 kilograms, were believed to have a street value of Dh19 million.

Their seizure came at the culmination of an operation known as Bottom of Darkness, the anti-narcotics department at Sharjah Police General Command said.