Dubai Customs have joined forces with their Japanese counterparts to thwart efforts to smuggle $310 million of methamphetamine into the East Asian country.
Customs officers from both nations came together after receiving information that a large haul of illicit drugs had been stashed on a cargo ship bound for Japan.
The resulting joint operation led to the second biggest drug bust ever made in Japan, as about 700kg of methamphetamine was seized in Tokyo, Emirati state news agency Wam reported on Sunday.
The cargo ship had set sail from an unspecified Asian country with a significant quantity of drugs hidden on board.
This marks a key victory in Dubai's ongoing support of the global fight against drug trafficking.
Ahmed Musabih, director general of Dubai Customs, stressed the importance of forging close links with customs authorities around the world to help snuff out the drugs trade.
Last month, Dubai Customs assisted Canadian authorities in tracking and obtaining more than 547kg of drugs.
The contraband was discovered in shipping containers transported to Canada from Asia.
No further details about the haul were revealed.
A global crime-fighting coalition – including the UAE – has seized more than 55 tonnes of drugs valued at $750m in a two-month operation, also making 597 arrests.
The International Security Alliance, which includes the UAE, Bahrain, Senegal, Morocco, Spain, Israel, Italy, Slovakia, Singapore, France and the Netherlands, joined forces with the Police Community of the Americas, Ameripol. The operation targeted gangs smuggling drugs across parts of Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
In total, 22 countries were involved in the major campaign to disrupt sophisticated drug networks between April and June.
Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, hailed the efforts of global police forces to take drugs off the streets.
He thanked ISA and Ameripol for “their promotion of international efforts to combat this dangerous scourge at the global level, as partners in the safety of our societies,” in a message on Twitter on Monday.
The campaign targeted transnational drug trafficking networks and involved monitoring air, land and sea routes used by the gangs.
Footage shared by the alliance showed special forces teams from around the world carrying out key arrests and seizing large quantities of drugs.
Dubai Customs foil smugglers - in pictures
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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