DUBAI // Dubai Police helped to foil recent attempts to smuggle 6.9 kilograms of cocaine into Kenya and 2.5kg of methamphetamine into Malaysia.
In the first incident, anti-narcotic officers had grown suspicious of a man, identified as MLU, who was travelling through Dubai International Airport on his way to Nairobi from Sao Paulo. The final destination of the man, who is from an unnamed European country, was Benin.
Officers warned Kenyan authorities, who found the cocaine inside 12 medium-sized speakers MLU was carrying. The drug haul had an estimated street value of Dh1.5 million.
In the second incident, police spotted a woman, identified as HCS, acting nervously as she passed through the airport's Terminal 3 on her way to Kuala Lumpur from an unnamed African country. Officers alerted Malaysian authorities, who discovered the methamphetamine at the base of her suitcase.
[ wissa@thenational.ae ]
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.