The UAE’s National Drug Enforcement Authority has dismantled an international drug smuggling network after intercepting a large narcotics shipment destined for distribution within the country, in a joint operation spanning five emirate-level police forces and a cross-border intelligence partnership with Iraq.
The operation netted 200,000 Captagon pills and more than 30 kilogrammes of narcotics, including cocaine, crystal meth, marijuana, hashish and synthetic cannabinoids (Spice).
Twenty suspects of Gulf, Arab, African and Asian nationalities have been arrested. The network had intended to move the substances through a border area in Ras Al Khaimah.
The case was triggered by intelligence shared between UAE and Iraqi authorities, specifically Iraq’s General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic
Substances Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, which uncovered a multinational plot to bring large quantities of drugs into the UAE. UAE security agencies, working with the Public Prosecution, then developed a coordinated plan. Some suspects were caught in the act of attempting entry; others were picked up in separate ambushes across the UAE.
Ras Al Khaimah Police, Dubai Police, Sharjah Police and Ajman Police all participated in the operation alongside the National Drug Enforcement Authority.
The authority said the operation showed the UAE’s security apparatus was capable of tracking and dismantling cross-border criminal networks, and called the result a blow to narcotics trafficking in the region. It also called on the public to report suspicious activity, saying cooperation between communities and security agencies was essential to keeping drugs out of the country.
