MAJOR DRUG RACKETS BUSTED

ABU DHABI - Anti-drugs squads of the Interior Ministry have foiled attempts
to transit 203kg of hashish and 51kg of heroin through the country, a
senior Ministry official said yesterday.

"Marine anti-narcotic squads of the Ministry have successfully seized 203kg
of hashish worth Dh4million in a Pakistani ship docked at Khor Fakkan Port.
In a separate operation, the drugs squads foiled an attempt to smuggle 51kg
of heroin to Kuwait, worth Dh20 million," Colonel Abdulla Al Bedaiwi,
Director of Anti-Narcotic Department at the Ministry, said. He said the
hashish consignment was seized after a team of the anti-narcotics unit
inspected the vessel after suspicion. During inspection, the team found the
drugs hidden in a cache. Upon initial interrogation, the captain of the
ship said the consignment belonged to a drug dealer in Pakistan. He told
the police that he was entrusted to deliver the drugs to another party in
Saudi Arabia.

In coordination with the anti-narcotics section of Sharjah Police, the team
succeeded in arresting a truck driver, a Pakistani, whose role was to
transport the consignment by land to Saudi Arabia, the official said.

The UAE authorities arranged with Saudi authorities the so-called
'controlled-delivery' of the drugs, after obtaining an approval from the
General Prosecution Office of the UAE. The operation resulted in the arrest
of three people in Saudi Arabia involved in the smuggling attempt.

In the other operation, the anti-narcotic department at the Ministry had
received information about an attempt to smuggle 51kg of heroin in a
consignment of wood and glue into Kuwait. As part of the cooperation
between the UAE and Kuwait, the UAE authorities passed on the information
confidentially to the Kuwaiti authorities who nabbed the person who
received the drugs.

Col. Bedaiwi said the department received a cable of thanks and
appreciation from the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait for its cooperation
which led to the seizure of the drugs consignment.

He praised the anti-narcotics squads for their vigilence and the tremendous
efforts they exert to curb the spread of drugs and protect the society
against the dangers posed by them.

"These efforts to protect our society against the dangers of drugs are in
line with the directives of decision-makers at the Ministry of Interior,
led by the the Minister, Lt-Gen. Dr Mohammed Saeed Al Badi, and the
Ministry's Under-Secretary Maj-Gen. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and
the follow-up of Maj-Gen. Saif Al Shaafar, the Ministry's Under-Secretary
for Security Affairs.

These efforts also come as part of the directives of leaders to strengthen
regional and international cooperation, particularly with AGCC which
believes that cooperation is the only effective tool to counter drugs
problem," Col. Bedaiwi said. He also praised the command of the Armed Force
Coastguard for their cooperation and support to the anti-narcotics units at
the sea ports in the country.