Statistics of the Federal Customs Authority and local customs departments revealed that during the past five years (2105 - 2019), the number of seizures of narcotic substances in border crossing points increased to more than 15,764 seizures.
The efforts of the authority and the local customs departments, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and the relevant security agencies, resulted in an increase in the contribution of the customs sector in the index of increasing the proportion of drug seizures at the state level from 33% in 2018 to 39% in 2019.
According to the authority's statistical database, the amount of drugs seized by the customs sector in the country increased in 2019 alone, to reach about 2.1 tons of narcotic drugs.
Customs Commissioner, head of the Federal Customs Authority, Ali Saeed Matar Al Neyadi, said, “These numbers and indicators reflect the severity of the targeting operations carried out by organized crime gangs for the children of the Emirati society, and at the same time reveal the vigilance of the country's customs sector, and the importance of the great role it plays in Combating drug trafficking.
And he expected a noticeable decline in drug smuggling operations through the country's outlets, during the coming period, after the customs sector succeeded in establishing the concept of customs deterrence, by intensifying drug seizures and implementing new initiatives and mechanisms that achieve this goal.
Al-Neyadi said that the authority and local customs departments have taken protection of society’s security as a strategic goal for the country’s customs sector, and this task has been given a high priority in light of the growing risks, in commitment to its national role, and its belief in the great harm of drugs to the security and health of society and the citizen, and its conviction of its important role in Facing this organized crime, and protecting the security and stability of society, in cooperation with the relevant authorities in the state.
Statistical data for the authority indicated that the total number of drug seizures, which were implemented by the customs sector in the country in 2019 alone, reached 4451 seizures, compared to 3332 seizures in the previous year, with a total weight of 2.1 tons, which reflects the extent of the development of efforts made by the country's customs in The field of combating drug trafficking.
With regard to the quality of seizures, the statistical data of the Authority revealed that seizures of Captagon pills came at the forefront of customs seizures of drugs for the year 2019, by weight, at 51% of the total seizures weight, equivalent to approximately 1.4 tons, and narcotic crystal seizures came second with 19%, with a weight of 492 thousand grams, while cannabis seizures came third by 11%, with a total weight of 294 thousand grams, followed by cocaine seizures by 7% and a weight of 168 thousand grams, then “tramadol” by 6%, with a weight of 144.2 thousand grams of the total weight Settings. The proportion of seizures of khat, heroin, opium, hemp, cereals and other medicines ranged between 2% and less than 1% for each.
Analysis of drug seizures showed, in recent years, that the most common means used to smuggle drugs are: personal bags accompanied by travelers, followed by means of transportation, then parcels, clothes, containers, and finally the viscera of travelers.
Al-Neyadi stressed the implementation by the commission of an integrated strategy to enhance the country's efforts to combat drugs and prevent their smuggling through border customs outlets, in cooperation with local customs departments and strategic partners from ministries and relevant government agencies.
The strategy includes a group of main axes, the most prominent of which is the participation of customs monitors and inspectors in the commission (64 customs monitors and inspectors) deployed in the customs outlets in the country, their counterparts in the local customs departments, the operations of controlling the smuggling of narcotic drugs, and prior information about the smuggling operations to be carried out.
The total value of the devices in which the authority provided customs outlets in the various emirates was about 66 million dirhams, in addition to forming joint teams to monitor and remedy the expected security challenges.
He drew attention to the application of 218 auditing standards related to inspection and security devices and sites, safety, investigation, seizure and seizures, in addition to applying best practices and standards in the field of customs inspection, and the use of modern methods in customs intelligence in analyzing data and the risk engine to target shipments.