Dubai Customs thwarted a new attempt to smuggle narcotics and prevented its entry into the country. The shipment was 6.4 kilograms of heroin, bringing the total to 258 kilograms of narcotic substances.
The market value of seized items is estimated at AED 25 million. The smugglers tried to get them through Jebel Ali port, hidden in used car parts. They were confronted by customs inspection officers at Dubai Customs and were able to thwart their attempt in a process called “transmission”. Dubai Customs uses the latest artificial intelligence applications to diagnose risks in future commercial shipments and create risk profiles for dangerous shipments, consignment of spares containing narcotic substances, and characterize them as “dangerous consignment”.
Accordingly, the consignee was notified to visit the Jebel Ali Customs Inspection Center and made an appointment without hesitation, believing that his methods of concealment and camouflage were undetectable.
The smugglers placed five different types of car parts in different sizes, along with used sewing machines, in the target shipment, making it difficult to detect the smuggled material during the inspection. They also used different methods of disinformation, concealing narcotic substances in the internal cavities of spare parts, to suggest that they are intact and do not contain prohibited or smuggled materials, and the illusion that these methods will prevent customs inspection officers and the discovery of narcotics.
The inspection began by unloading the contents of the shipment and sorting them according to their quality. Through the use of the Customs Dogs Unit of the Technical Support Department, there were strong indications that narcotics were hidden. The joint team of the Customs Intelligence Department and the Jebel Ali Customs Centers conducted a manual inspection of the contents of the shipment. After opening the spare parts with special equipment, customs inspection officers were able to find the narcotic substances and refer them to the competent authorities.
Yousef Al Hashimi, Director of Jebel Ali Customs Centers, stressed the importance of integrating efforts in thwarting smuggling attempts and seizing narcotics to protect society from its dangers.
He added: «We have developed an integrated system to address these attempts, and progress in the preparation of customs inspection officers and provide them with skills to detect drugs, no matter how smugglers try to hide. The recent seizure shows how competent our inspectors are and their determination to protect society from the harm of narcotics. ”
The Director of the Customs Intelligence Department, Shoaib Mohammed Al-Suwaidi, noted the advanced capabilities of the Customs Intelligence Department staff, which enables them to analyze risks efficiently to determine the levels of risk in incoming shipments and pre-monitor dangerous shipments.