Illegal smuggling attempts up 50% in Dubai

Dubai customs authorities discovered 3,581 attempts to smuggle drugs and other illegal items in 2011, nearly 50 per cent higher than in 2010.

Smuggling operations last year included 33 attempts to bring in narcotics while 223 involved banned medicine and 52 counterfeit products.

“The smugglers never stopped to use strange techniques to get their stuff through but failed,” said Omar Al Muhairi, director of the air cargo operations.

Some of them even used children sweets while others resorted to books, shoes and CDs to conceal narcotics to smuggle them into or out of Dubai,” he told the Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum.