Dubai: Dubai Police recently dismantled an international drug trafficking network and revealed the culprits’ secret methods in smuggling the harmful toxins after only seven hours of receiving a tip-off.
The General Department of Anti-narcotics at Dubai Police received a report about a drug trafficking gang attempting to smuggle drugs in 280 packaging bags (weighing 5.6 tonnes) filled with a mixture of natural and plastic broad beans stuffed with narcotics.
An investigation team tracked the suspects and raided their den, arresting the six culprits red-handed, and seized 436kg of toxins from the legumes, a type of plant.
How the operation unfolded
The department had received a reliable tip-off reporting a drug-smuggling attempt initiated by an international syndicate, whose few members reside within the emirate while others operate elsewhere. The report indicated that tonnes of illegal substances were hidden in a legumes shipment and stored at a warehouse.
Upon receiving the information, Dubai Police formed an investigation team who kept the suspects under close surveillance and located the warehouse, where a large amount of board beans had been hidden.
At zero-hour, the raid took down the suspects and uncovered the narcotics stuffed in plastic legumes, which were ready to be shipped to a nearby country.
‘Exceptional mission’
Officials from Dubai Police stressed that Operation Legumes is one of the exceptional operations that the force has carried out, especially as the warehouse inspection required high-skilled security and the deployment of a K9 unit to discover narcotics stuffed in plastic food.
A Dubai Police official said: “We will seize every opportunity to preserve the local, regional and international security and safety in coordination and cooperation with international counterparts. We will protect the communities from drug trafficking and disrupt all of the criminals’ attempts. We believe that the security-exchange of information and expertise in the drug-trafficking cases with other polices agencies have contributed significantly in increasing the seizures of drugs in the recent years.”
