Dubai Police foil gang smuggling Dh4.5m of Captagon in clothes buttons

Police say 90,000 pills found as drugs were being prepared to be trafficked out of UAE

Police in Dubai display Captagon pills concealed within the buttons of clothes. Photo: Dubai Police

Dubai Police have thwarted a criminal gang trying to smuggle almost 90,000 Captagon tablets hidden in the buttons of clothes.

Under the operation, carried out with the co-operation of authorities in Saudi Arabia, police raided the premises of the gang and discovering the capsules concealed inside the buttons.

The drugs, weighing 18.9kg and valued at Dh4.48 million, were seized before they could be trafficked abroad, police said on Sunday.

Dubai Police launched Operation Toxic Buttons after receiving information about a gang, comprising of two Arabs and one Asian, who were preparing to move the drugs out of the UAE - on the orders of another person out overseas.

The suspects’ movements, vehicles and residences were placed under surveillance, which led to police discovering the drugs in a Dubai apartment, as well as a property in another emirate.

Clamp down on Captagon

The National previously reported how Sharjah Police announced an attempt to distribute 3.5 million Captagon pills was successfully thwarted.

The illegal pills, weighing about 585kg, were believed to have had a street value of Dh19 million. The seizure came at the culmination of an operation known as Bottom of Darkness, the anti-narcotics department at Sharjah Police said.

Countries across the region have stepped up efforts to halt the smuggling of Captagon in recent years due to concerns over its widespread use.

Syria was the region's primary producer until the fall of former president Bashar Al Assad in December, although he had denied his government's involvement. The new administration has pledged to crack down on the production and trafficking of the drug.

In 2021, it was estimated the Syrian government generated more than $5 billion from the Captagon trade. The drug is transported to some Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, which has led to a string of high-profile seizures.

It was estimated that between 2019 and 2023, about 82 per cent of the Captagon seized in the Middle East originated from Syria, followed by Lebanon at 17 per cent.

According to the New Lines Institute, a US-based think tank, the global Captagon market is worth about $10 billion a year, with 80 per cent having been produced in Syria before the fall of Mr Al Assad.

The cross-border flow of the drug has long been viewed as a major national security threat in the Middle East. Billions of dollars a year in Captagon have crossed from Syria into other Arab countries since 2018.

One pill costs as little as a few US cents to produce, but high-quality pills have sold for as much as $20 each in Arab countries.