Bid to smuggle 9.9kg of opium foiled

The Dubai Customs recently foiled a bid to smuggle 9.9kg of opium worth over Dh250,000, concealed in two parcels heading from an Asian to a western country at the Dubai Cargo Village.

Ahmed Abdalla bin Lahej, Director of Air Customs Centres Department at the Dubai Customs, said the two parcels contained 42 handbags as per the customs declaration.

The opium extracated from the parcels. — Supplied photo

Customs officers suspected the contents of the parcels and ordered a manual inspection. “A dark brown substance concealed in a liquid was extracted from the handbags.”

The K9 Dogs Squad was brought into the scene to check the items confiscated. The Customs Mobile Laboratory was also called to take a sample from the contraband for examination and reported that the substance found was narcotic opium. The seizure was then transferred to the anti-narcotics department of the Dubai Police in line with coordination and cooperation between both sides.

“The Dubai Customs spares no effort in supporting international legitimate trade and controlling transportation of internationally prohibited and restricted goods which are deemed harmful to the health of man whether infiltrated to the local markets or intended to transport overseas via Dubai.”

Medical reports show that opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy that contains up to 12 per cent morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade.

In Februray, March and October last year, Dubai Customs thwarted three separate attempts to smuggle 22kg of opium worth over Dh550,000, in handbag shipments at the Dubai Cargo Village.

“The Dubai Customs foiled 55 bids to smuggle different kinds of narcotics in 2010. Those included four bids to smuggle 12kg of opium valued at over Dh300,000,” he said.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com