Dubai: A total of 432 people were arrested in 314 cases of drug-related crimes in Dubai in the first quarter of 2015, much higher than the number of similar cases in the corresponding period last year, Dubai Police said.
Colonel Eid Thani Hareb, Director of the Anti-Narcotics Department of Dubai Police, said that there was an increase in the number of arrests compared with the same period in 2014, where 380 people were arrested in 285 drug cases.
The statistics were released on the occasion of the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26.
Col Hareb said that a committee was formed to study the establishment of a rehabilitation and treatment centre for addicts in Dubai, as addicts from Dubai are referred to centres in other emirates for treatment. The police are taking measure to curb the phenomenon of an increase in drug cases.
In the first quarter of 2015, Dubai Police seized 57.8kg of narcotics, compared with 70.4kg in the first quarter of 2014.
Of the 314 cases this year, 131 were cases of people using drugs, 14 were cases of drug trading, 24 drug promotion, 103 possession, 38 smuggling, and four importing drugs.
The majority of people arrested in drug-related cases were from GCC countries. In the first quarter of this year, of the 432 people arrested, 212 were from the GCC, 151 were foreigners (non-Arab) and 69 were Arab. Those in the 21-25 age group were the most implicated in drug-related crimes, Col Hareb said, with 138 people charged in the first quarter of this year.
People aged 26-30 came in second with 126 cases, 31-35 year-olds had 69 cases, youth aged 14-20 had 43 cases, people aged 41-45 had 21 cases, those in the 36-40 age group were implicated in 19 cases and 16 people aged 46 and above were caught in drug-related crimes.
“The department spares no effort in raising awareness about the dangers of narcotics, especially among youth as they are the most vulnerable,” he said.
He said that the department is using technology to get its message across, as they are working on a smart app that will help spread drug awareness.
The department had earlier launched a smart programme that allows anti-narcotics awareness officials to remotely lecture students in their schools and universities. The system allows a lecturer to deliver a lecture to more than one school at the same time.
Ths system requires schools to install cameras, speakers and have an internet connection, which links them to the lecturer who is lecturing from a special room designed for this purpose at the anti-narcotics department at Dubai Police. The students can interact and ask questions.
The department organised 76 awareness lectures in the first quarter of this year, 59 awareness exhibitions and eight events, which reached an approximate 22,166 people.
The Anti-Narcotics Department also blocked 32 websites in 2014 with the help of the Telecommunication Regulation Authority that were selling or promoting drugs. This brings the total of blocked websites to 91 between 2012-2014.
The department is organising a two-day awareness campaign at the Arabian Centre on June 27-28.
