The UAE’s Ministry of Interior has arrested two men accused of smuggling thousands of narcotic pills into the country.
Police were monitoring the two suspects before raiding two key locations during the operation.
The first raid caught the accused at a site used to store narcotic pills while they were unloading and preparing for distribution within the country.
Mechanical construction equipment including an excavator machine, in which another quantity was hidden, was seized at a second site.
“The two Arab nationals have connections to an international drug trafficking network,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
“The suspects were caught in one location that was used to store the narcotic pills. The pills were extracted from the excavator and they were packing them to be distributed inside the UAE.”
A global network
During interrogation, the suspects admitted to having other partners who prepared and smuggled the shipment from Hamburg, Germany, to one of the UAE’s ports.
“One of the suspects had entered the country on a visit visa to oversee the operation.”
The ministry didn’t disclose details of the suspects or the type of narcotics. According to the ministry, the suspects confessed that the ringleader resides outside the UAE and is responsible for financing and coordinating the entire operation.
A senior official at the ministry emphasised the importance of international co-operation in the fight against drug trafficking, to stop overseas criminal networks.
While the investigation is still continuing, the ministry said that it will chase the other suspects who are outside the country in collaboration with international agencies through the appropriate legal channels.
Earlier this week, Sharjah Police announced that an attempt to distribute 3.5 million Captagon pills had been successfully thwarted.
The illegal stimulant pills, totalling about 585 kilograms, were believed to have a street value of Dh19 million.
Their seizure came at the culmination of an operation known as Bottom of Darkness, the anti-narcotics department at Sharjah Police General Command said.
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
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