Sharjah Police confiscated drugs valued at more than Dh115.3 million ($31.4 million) last year, highlighting progress in the emirate's battle against trafficking.
The force said there was a 24 per cent increase in drug seizures in 2023 compared to the previous year, with the interception of more than 1.1 tonnes of narcotics including 4.5 million tablets.
Major drug hauls included the “Black Bags” operation in April, which led to the arrest of 24 suspects and the confiscation of 120kg of hashish alongside three million Captagon tablets valued at more than Dh23.5 million.
The efforts in the fight against drugs are diverse
Maj Gen Saif Al Shamsi
In another operation in October, Sharjah Police dismantled an international drug trafficking ring and arrested 32 people linked to the attempted smuggling of 50kg of hashish, 49 litres of liquid crystal meth and more than one million pills containing psychotropic substances. The market value of these seized drugs was an estimated Dh14 million.
These figures were shared during the force’s annual media briefing on Monday.
Sharjah Police's anti-drug efforts also included the shutting down of more than 1,003 websites linked to drug promotion and the thwarting of more than 600 attempts to encourage drug use within the emirate.
“The efforts in the fight against drugs are diverse and include launching multiple awareness-raising campaigns,” said Maj Gen Saif Al Shamsi, commander in chief of Sharjah Police.
Increasing police stations
Maj Gen Al Shamsi also spoke about the importance of Sharjah census data in helping the force shape strategic planning for future security infrastructure and pinpointing areas in need of more police services.
“When you have precise figures, you can accurately channel your efforts towards effectively serving the public,” he said.
“As a direct result of these insights, we are currently advancing plans to establish a new police station in Al Shnouf area.”
Public security enhancements include the introduction of more cameras, with more than 89,770 now in position across the emirate, including live view and automatic number plate recognition cameras that read and digitalise vehicle registrations.
Col Mohammed Al Naqbi, director of Sharjah Traffic Police, also highlighted the success of the 35 per cent permanent discount initiative on traffic fines, “with 242,000 vehicle licences being renewed after the fines imposed on them were settled”.
Under the scheme introduced in April, the rate of prompt payment has also increased, with almost 63 per cent of all fines issued since the launch of the discount being settled within two months.
Police are confident this is because the discount drops to 25 per cent if the fine is paid later than two months from the date of its issuance.
Royal Navy seizes drugs worth Dh45 million in the Gulf region: In pictures
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Griselda
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ARGENTINA SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Juan Foyth, Nicolas Otamendi, German Pezzella, Nicolas Tagliafico, Ramiro Funes Mori, Renzo Saravia, Marcos Acuna, Milton Casco
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Guido Rodriguez, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Roberto Pereyra, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala, Matias Suarez
SPECS
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PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
