3kg opium hidden in toys on transit flight

Dubai Customs inspectors have seized 3kg of opium hidden inside wooden toys on a transit flight from an Asian country and heading to a European country.

A customs inspector at Dubai Cargo Village suspected the parcel, which contained cartoons with four wooden toys and a bag – as per the bill of lading. He noticed some lumpiness when he checked the parcel through the X-ray machine.

K9-Dogs Squad and the customs mobile laboratory were brought into the scene to check the cargo and both confirmed that it contained 3kg of opium.

The contents of the parcel were transferred to the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police and later sent to the European country. Related information was communicated to authorities there and the cargo owners were arrested.

Omar Ahmed Al Mehairi, senior manager of air freight, stressed that inspectors’ great efforts towards anti-smuggling come in line with the customs mission to protect the society against what threatens the UAE community.
Al Mehairi also praised customs for providing its inspectors with specialised training courses knowing that they deal with a huge number of cargos annually, whether they are transit or heading to the UAE by land, sea and air.
Al Mehairi added: “Customs employ the most qualified national cadre and equips them with hi-tech inspection devices worldwide, which undoubtedly does not make it any easy on ‘smugglers’ to persist with their illegal techniques.”