Police seize half tonne of hashish hidden in lorry

DUBAI // Police have seized almost half a tonne of hashish which was smuggled into the country hidden in a lorry. The vast haul, weighing 457kg, was concealed in a lorry travelling into the UAE from Oman, Dubai Police said yesterday. The drugs are believed to have originated in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and were heading for an unspecified GCC country, police said. The vehicle entered the UAE on June 8, and officers tracked it over the following days.

It was stopped on Emirates Road on June 12, when police discovered 11 sacks of cannabis inside the trailer. Three suitcases filled with the drug were also found in the cabin behind the driver's seat. Four people were arrested. A search is under way for two other suspects believed to have held key roles in the operation. Major Gen Khamis Mattar al Mezaina, the deputy chief of Dubai Police, said one of the missing suspects had fled to an Arab nation, and the other to a GCC state. Both are being pursued by Interpol.

"This large haul was not intended to be distributed in the Emirates," said Gen al Mezaina. "The UAE does not have a consumer market for such a large quantity." Maj Gen Abdel Jalil Mahdi, the director of the police anti-narcotics department, said the shipment originated in Pakistan or Afghanistan. "The drugs were shipped to an Arab country and from there were smuggled through another before reaching Dubai," he said.

Police in Dubai were tipped off by Omani authorities and surveillance was launched at all border crossings. "Investigations and close surveillance led us to believe the apprehended truck was the one carrying the drugs," Maj Gen Mahdi said. "We tracked the driver at all his stops and investigated his acquaintances, revealing that he was due to deliver the narcotics to another driver who was going to transport it to a neighbouring country."

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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.