Dogs sniff out 5.7 million drug pills in Dubai food container

Dubai - The contraband was deftly concealed in a foodstuff container coming from an Arab country.

Sniffer dogs and hi-tech came to the aid of Dubai Customs in foiling an attempt to smuggle 5.7 million narcotic Captagon pills - worth Dh228 million - into the country.
The contraband, detected at Jebel Ali & Tecom Customs Center, was deftly concealed in a foodstuff container coming from an Arab country, according to a senior official.
Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director-general of Dubai Customs, said that the container was thoroughly scanned. "With the help of the customs K-9 Dog Unit, the illegal Captagon pills were seized."
This raises the number of Captagon pills seized during the last four months to 10.715 million, he revealed.
"Early this year, Jebel Ali & Tecom Customs Center announced the seizure of 5 million Captagon pills."
He added: "In the recent bust, the narcotic pills were found to be carefully hidden inside bags full with red lentils."
Yousef Al Hashimi, director of the Jebel Ali Customs Centres Management, said they have recently applied a smart inspection system that successfully streamlined the flow of containers and improved the process of tracking them."
"The full X-ray container detection system, the first-of-its-kind in the world, can process 150 containers per hour," he added.
"These achievements at the Jebel Ali Customs Centre Management support our preparations for the upcoming Expo 2020."
Shuaib Al Suwaidi, customs intelligence director at Dubai Customs, said they track shipments on their way to Dubai's entry points based on numerous data and intelligence resources.
"We have a very advanced smart risk engine in place which we developed in-house to track all coming shipments and classify them based on their risk level," he said.
Dr Roua Abdelamim, a local pharmacist, told Khaleej Times that Captagon was first manufactured in 1961.
"This human-made drug, of a family of drugs known as amphetamines, stimulates the central nervous system, increasing alertness, boosting concentration and physical performance, and providing a feeling of well-being."
It was prescribed to treat narcolepsy and depression, but the medical community had determined that Captagon's addictive properties outweighed its clinical benefits in 1980, she added.
"Then, it was banned in several countries, particularly after it proved, as is the case with long-term amphetamine users, to lead to extreme depression, malnutrition, heart and blood vessel toxicity, and sleep deprivation."
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Dubai