SHARJAH - The country's openness, its economic development and its strategic location between drugs-producing and consuming countries has, of late, made UAE a key transit point for transhipment of contraband drugs.
This was stated on Tuesday by Brig. Yousif Al Addidi, head of the Anti-Narcotics Unit in Dubai Police.
He, however, refused to mention the names of the drugs-producing and consuming countries.
According to statistics compiled by Sharjah Police, 1,943 people of various nationalities were arrested in 1,112 drug trafficking cases from 1998 to 2007.
During the last year, 895kg of hashish, 6.2kg of heroin, 6.5kg of cocaine and 4,104 capsules of various other drugs were seized in Sharjah alone.
The biggest quantity of hashish weighing 2,031kg was seized in 2001 in the emirate.
Drug offences in the emirate are punishable by terms ranging from a minimum of 15 years to life sentence, or even death sentence depending on the case.