5 Dubai drivers caught for carrying 3.2 million drug pills

All of them have been detained and accused of possessing drugs for peddling.

Five drivers caught in possession of more than 3.2 million amphetamine tablets were charged at the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
The five Syrian men, aged between 32 and 52, were arrested on September 26 last year in Al Muraqqabat.
All of them have been detained and accused of possessing drugs for peddling.
An anti-narcotics police major said they were tipped off that one of the drivers, a 34-year-old, was a member of an international gang operating in Turkey, Lebanon and the UAE. "We learned he was active in importing and exporting narcotics (captagon pills). Our information was that an accomplice possessed a quantity of the drugs and was about to ship it to a neighbouring Gulf country."
The major recounted to the prosecutor how he and a task force moved to where the main defendant, a 32-year-old, was in Rigga Al Buteen at 8.10pm on September 26, last year. "We spotted him driving his car. The man looked as if he was checking whether he was being watched. We followed him as he went to a building in Al Muteena. He was arrested as he was about to enter the building. We found five bags, including three travel bags, in his car containing tablets."
When asked about the drugs found in his car, the defendant remained silent.
"The accused told us that he and other accomplices were into transporting and exporting cigarettes. He then claimed that at a later stage, he discovered that the boxes did not contain cigarettes."  
A Dubai police crime lab report showed that the quantity seized from the accused weighed more than 505kg.  
According to reports from the Dubai Police crime lab, the urine samples of all the defendants tested negative for drugs.
The trial has been adjourned to May 13.
- mary@khaleejtimes.com