Dubai Customs seizes 880g of heroin hidden in passenger's laptop, bag and shoes

Officers thwart attempt to smuggle drug through Dubai International Airport

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  Dubai Customs seized 880 grams of pure heroin. All photos: Dubai Customs

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  Some of the drugs were found in suitcase poles.

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  Drugs were also concealed in the passenger's shoes.

Dubai Customs foiled an attempt to smuggle 880 grams of pure heroin through the emirate's main airport.

Announcing the seizure on Thursday, Dubai Customs said the drugs were hidden in an Asian traveller’s suitcase poles, laptop and shoes.

The incident occurred during the first three months of the year at Dubai International Airport's Terminal 2 when officers became suspicious of a passenger and searched him. At least seven packages of heroin were found, officers said. No further details about the incident or the value of the drugs were revealed.

The airport’s director of passenger operations, Ibrahim Kamali, however, praised the role played by customs officers in thwarting efforts to bring drugs into the country despite increasingly sophisticated efforts by smugglers.

Mr Al Kamali said officers use advanced equipment to detect drugs and Dubai Customs continually runs workshops for its officers to combat drug trafficking. These include identifying different types of drugs, methods of smuggling, monitoring and detecting drugs in the field, identifying forged and counterfeit items, developing security awareness, handling hazardous materials and mastering the techniques of searching individuals and luggage.

Officers also receive training in effective communication skills, negotiation, dialogue and persuasion.

The incident came just weeks after Dubai Customs seized huge quantities of narcotics in a double operation at the emirate's ports.

In operation Double Strike, officers seized 32.8 million narcotic pills hidden in a shipment of food and medical equipment at Jebel Ali Port. Inspectors also seized 1.2 million Captagon pills, weighing 227kg, at Deira Wharfage Customs Centre.

Captagon is the most in-demand narcotic in the Middle East.

In February, police in Abu Dhabi arrested a man who allegedly tried to smuggle 4.5 million Captagon tablets in cans of green beans.

The force said the suspect planned to transport the huge haul of illicit drugs to a neighbouring Middle Eastern country.

Brig Gen Taher Al Dhaheri, director of Abu Dhabi Police's anti-narcotics team, said the plot was thwarted thanks to a successful surveillance operation.

Officers had tracked the man's movements after being alerted of a plan to bring the drugs to the UAE before they were shipped to their final destination.

The estimated value of the pills was not revealed.

In the same month, Dubai Police thwarted three criminal operations aimed at selling 111kg of drugs with an estimated value of Dh32 million.

About 99kg of the drugs haul was made up of Captagon valued at about Dh31 million