NEW YORK // The UN's latest drugs report confirms that the UAE is increasingly being targeted by criminals as both a destination and trafficking-post in the illegal narcotics trade.
The World Drug Report 2009, released today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), warns of a growth in the smuggling of amphetamines and heroin to the Emirates.
The data accord with figures from the anti-narcotics unit of Dubai Police, which has seized 41 per cent more drugs between January and May than during the same period last year.
The agency's director, Antonio Maria Costa, said Dubai's busy ports are increasingly targeted by criminal gangs seeking alternative supply routes with less-stringent customs checks.
"Drug trafficking today has become a global business. Even if the main markets are still North America and Europe, criminals can go through other areas where there is the least risk of being arrested with the least controls," said Mr Costa.
"The logic today is not to send drugs from Colombia to Spain - it is too dangerous. Everybody would be waiting for containers to arrive and inspect them thoroughly. Instead, it is sent through other ports and disguised with Chinese tea or cashew nuts from Ivory Coast."
The Vienna-based agency's 314-page report says Dubai is emerging as a new transit point for opiates as they pass from the world's largest heroin producer, Afghanistan, through Pakistan and onwards to destinations such as China and Malaysia.
Researchers also highlight "dramatic increases in seizures" of fake Captagon pills, commonly an addictive mixture of stimulants such as fenethylline and caffeine that can induce paranoia among a range of psychological ills.
Although their use has "skyrocketed" across the region, Saudi Arabia remains the core market, where amphetamine seizures were greater in 2007 than those in China and the United States combined.
Bearing the brand name of a formerly-legal stimulant, Captagon pills change hands for a few dollars on the streets of cities such as Jeddah, Dubai and Doha, often mistakenly used by young men to boost sexual performance.
Growing drug use in the UAE and other Gulf countries results from the increasingly affluent middle-class lifestyles of local populations combined with an influx of illegal migrants looking to make cash through crime, Mr Costa said.
"The Emirates is in a difficult situation. It needs to maintain the status of an open country, welcoming trade, investors and tourists, on the one hand. But, on the other hand, when you open the windows, as well as fresh air, you also let in mosquitoes."
The drugs chief said his agency was working with the Government to boost security at borders, ports and airports, particularly through hi-tech systems that use shipping logs to identify suspect container units.
Tougher policing will reduce the amount of drugs being smuggled into the country and help tackle related crimes, such as the laundering of narcotic gang profits, which is also on the rise, he added.
Speaking in advance of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is celebrated annually on June 26, Abdul-Jaleel Mahdi, head of Dubai Police's anti-drugs unit, told Reuters that the UAE has become a "transit country" for drug dealers.
Dubai Police have caught 467 people in connection to drug trafficking this year, a third up on early last year, with heroin the main drug seized. The number of drug-related cases was also up a fifth to 288, against 242 last year, he said.
"The financial crisis may have played a role in the increase, as unemployment levels rose and the number of people involved in financial disputes increased," said Mr Mahdi.
Last week, Mohammed al Marri, the executive director of cargo operations at Dubai Customs told The National that the UAE faces a growing domestic drugs problem, on top of dealing with international traffickers.
Mr al Marri said Dubai Customs had undergone a huge overhaul since 2003 and said millions continue to be invested in the latest equipment and technology to combat traffickers.
jreinl@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
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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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island