Dubai seizes 171kg of cocaine worth Dh200m

Dubai Customs has foiled a bid to smuggle 171.2kg of cocaine, with a street value of more than Dh200 million, concealed inside a banana shipment, and said it was one of the biggest drugs seizures of its kind in UAE in the past five years.

Dubai Customs personnel seized the drugs in Jebel Ali seaport while inspecting the 45-tonne fresh banana shipment onboard a vessel which originated in a South American country and came to Dubai via Europe.

Ahmed Al Kharousi, Head of Customs Intelligence Department at Dubai Customs, noted that the smugglers used articles of witchcraft and lead as a distraction and covered the bags of cocaine with an organic substance in a bid to avoid detection of the drugs by X-ray scanners and sniffer dogs. They also used a European seaport in a bid to mislead customs authorities.



 

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