Police seize 50 tonnes of fireworks [video]

In a major crackdown, the Ras Al Khaimah Police seized 50 tonnes of highly explosive fireworks from two villas in Ras Al Khaimah and from neighboring Umm Al Quwain.

Colonel Abdullah Ali Al Munkis, Director of Criminal Investigation Department of police (RAK) said they received a tip off of illegal trading in villas in Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain

Four suspects were arrested in different places as part of an operation.

According to Major General Ali Abdullah bin Alwan Al Nuaimi, Commander-in-Chief of the RAK Police, the operation, dubbed 'Snapchat' is the biggest of its kind in the UAE.

🎥 فيديو
شرطة رأس الخيمة تضبط (( 50 )) طن من المفرقعات والألعاب النارية في عملية السناب شات pic.twitter.com/snKWfkidQO

— شرطة رأس الخيمة (@rakpoliceghq) May 15, 2016

The incident came to light after a Snapchat video was noticed by an undercover officer who then reported the case to the CID.

The video clip shows a villa where huge boxes of highly explosive fireworks were stored.

The CID formed a team to investigate the matter and identified the two Emirati suspects seen in the video, both aged 18.

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Both the accused were picked up by the police who later confessed to their crime.

They then led the police to a villa in Ras Al Khaimah, where they had stored the fireworks.

During the raid, huge quantity of fireworks were found. The two suspects then led the police to the main distributors in Umm Al Quwain.

In cooperation with Umm Al Quwain Police, the second villa was raided.

The villa was turned into a huge storehouse. Every room in the villa was packed with large amounts of firecrackers, endangering his family's life and residents in the area.

Col Al Munkis said the suspects intended to distribute the firecrackers to other emirates and sell them during Ramadan.

All four accused have been transferred to the public prosecution for the completion of legal proceedings against them.

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