Dubai Customs foil attempt to smuggle Dh1.4bn worth of Captagon pills

The seizure at Jebel Ali Port weighed 1.5 tonnes

Authorities at Dubai Customs’ Jebel Ali and Tecom Center seized 1.5 tonnes of crushed Captagon pills. Photo: Dubai Customs

In the biggest haul of its kind in the country, Dubai Customs officers managed to foil an attempt to smuggle crushed Captagon pills worth Dh1.4 billion into the emirate.

Authorities at Dubai Customs’ Jebel Ali and Telecom Centre analysed data regarding a shipment coming into Jebel Ali Port and inspected the container on arrival. It was then that they discovered 1.5 tonnes of the illegal stimulant.

Officials shared a video of the operation online.

“Dubai Customs’ people are very professional and always on the lookout for any illegitimate and suspicious activity without disrupting shipment clearance operations,” said Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman & chief executive and chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

“This operation is an example of what we do to secure our borders.”

Jebel Ali Port, the busiest port in the Middle East and one of the biggest in the world, has the capacity to handle more than 22 million containers every year.

All the containers arriving at the port are scanned for narcotics, explosives and other illegal and counterfeit items.

“Dubai Customs never ceases to develop and improve their inspection systems,” said Abdullah Busnad, executive director of the Customs Inspection Division.

“We have plans set to monitor, follow and intercept high-risk shipments, supported by our highly trained inspectors and sophisticated systems and devices.”

Dubai Customs thwarted 398 attempts to smuggle drugs into the city in the first three months of this year. The largest drug bust among them was a shipment of nearly three million Captagon pills concealed in a container of spare vehicle parts at Jebel Ali Port.

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