Abu Dhabi: An attempt to promote nearly 4.5 million drugs was foiled by Abu Dhabi Police after gang members were caught via an operation dubbed ‘Wooden Doors’.
Around 11,750 of the tablets were recovered in Dubai by a team from Dubai Police, which received support from Kuwait security forces.
“The Abu Dhabi Police recently succeeded in uncovering an attempt to promote 4.5 million tablets worth an estimated quarter of a billion dirhams. The tablets were with a four-member gang that was arrested. The gang comprised three Arabs and one GCC citizen, and they had kept the drugs at a safe house in Al Ain with the intention of smuggling them abroad,” said Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Bu Rasheed, head of the Criminal Investigation Department.
He added that the drugs passed through UAE borders by air from another Arab country in the Middle East.
Col Bu Rasheed said the drugs were professionally smuggled and stuffed in the frames of 36 wooden doors, and received in the name of one of the gang members.
He said that two of the gang members were caught in Al Ain, while the other two were caught in Dubai.
The gang members confessed to the charges, saying that they had intended to smuggle the drugs abroad.
Bu Rasheed urged the public to report any suspicious activity and to cooperate with the police to help ensure security in the UAE.
The bust was one of the biggest of its kind in the UAE. The first suspect, a 32- year-old-truck driver, identified as A.A.A, received the shipment upon its arrival at an export office in one of the emirates. Following investigations, the anti-narcotics team discovered that a warehouse in Al Ain was used to hide the pills and suspected that the gang might have a second hideout.
A.A.A., accompanied by the second suspect 36-year-old F.N.A., also a truck driver, moved the wooden frames in which the pills were stashed into a house in Al Ain.
Once the police were certain the drugs were being extracted from the frames, they raided the house and caught the suspects in the act.
The team also raided the other warehouse and found additional frames which had pills that filled 19 travel bags.
Investigations revealed that an Arab living outside the UAE was running the operation.
The operation was followed up with great precision by Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
Shaikh Saif stressed the unwavering policy of the UAE in fighting crime in all its forms and combating the illegal drugs trade to enhance the country’s security and stability.
He also praised the deep relations between the UAE and its partners, especially GCC countries in fighting the drug trade.
