Abu Dhabi, Oct 31: In one of the largest drug hauls in the country, anti-narcotic officers have busted a gang of four persons and seized 4.5 million narcotic pills worth more than Dh500 million from Al Ain and Dubai in a joint operation code-named ‘Wooden Doors’.
Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, said the suspects, three Arabs and a Gulf national, were planning to smuggle them into another country.
Intelligence forwarded by Kuwaiti authorities to the Anti-Narcotics Federal Department at the UAE Ministry of Interior contributed to seizing the shipment smuggled into the country through an airport from an Arab country in the Middle East.
“Subsequent and immediate investigations indicated that the narcotic pills were shipped to one of the suspects. They were stashed in a professional and innovative way in 108 transverse sections of 36 wooden door frames,” explained Colonel Borshid.
The officers managed to arrest two Arab suspects from Al Ain and an Arab and a Gulf national from Dubai, following a well-planned joint operation by the ministry, Abu Dhabi and Dubai police forces.
Colonel Sultan Suwayeh Al Darmaki, Chief of the Anti-Drug Section at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Abu Dhabi Police, who was the field commander, said the first suspect, a 32-year old truck driver, identified as A.A.A, received the drug shipment through an export/import office in one of the emirates. The drugs were concealed in the unassembled transverse sections of 36 wooden door frames.
“A.A.A, accompanied by the second suspect, a 36-year-old truck driver identified as F.N.A, transferred a big number of door frames from a warehouse to a house in Al Shabia neighbourhood in Al Ain City. This prompted the police team to place both the warehouse and the residence under surveillance.
“When we sensed that the drugs are being sorted, we raided the house. We caught the suspects red handed as they were dismantling the door frames, recovering the concealed pills and placing them in travel bags.”
The seized shipment consisted of three travel bags filled with pills. “We also confiscated 60 transverse sections of 20 doors where the drugs were stashed. The team also raided the warehouse, where we found 48 transverse sections of 16 doors, containing the drugs stashed in the same manner. A total of 16 travel bags filled with narcotic pills were confiscated in the operation.”
During interrogation, the two suspects revealed the identity of their accomplices — an Arab citizen living abroad and running the operation and the third suspect, also an Arab, who was supposed to receive the drug shipment in Dubai. “The team laid a trap and contacted the third accomplice through the arrested suspects. A delivery date was agreed upon.”
In coordination with the General Department of Anti-Narcotics of the Dubai Police, the third suspect, a 26-year-old investor identified as A.M.Kh, was arrested while receiving the shipment in the parking lot of an amusement park. He had another accomplice, 36-year-old GCC national identified as Kh.M.A who was also arrested. During interrogation, both confessed to being involved and having another 11,750 narcotic pills hidden in a location in Dubai. The drugs were confiscated and interrogation of all suspects is still going on.
Colonel Borshid reiterated his call to members of the public to not hesitate to report any suspicious activities and to cooperate with the anti-drugs units, which will take all necessary measures in accordance with the UAE laws that guarantee the protection of the public from any legal accountability as a result of their cooperation.
Local and international drug trafficking is a major security concern for anti-narcotic authorities and requires concerted efforts and close coordination.
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