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

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


Sarah Forster
  • English
  • Arabic

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.

Drugs intercepted at Saudi Arabian port: in pictures

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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Top financial tips for graduates

Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:

1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.

2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.

3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.

4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.

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Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre V6

Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km

Price: Dh179,999-plus

On sale: now 

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Company%C2%A0profile
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Manchester United 2

Anthony Martial 30'

Scott McTominay 90 6' 

Manchester City 0

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Stage 4 Dubai to Hatta, 197 km, Road race.

Overall leader Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)

Stage winners: 1. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal) 2. Matteo Moschetti ITA (Trek - Segafredo) 3. Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays

4.5/5

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Flights

Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.

The trip

Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.

The%C2%A0specs%20
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Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

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Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

HWJN
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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)

  • Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs 
  • Thursday 20 January: v England 
  • Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh 

UAE squad:

Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith  

Global Fungi Facts

• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

MATCH INFO

Schalke 0

Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')

Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)

HOW TO WATCH

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How Voiss turns words to speech

The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen

The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser

This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen

A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB

The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free

Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards

Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser

Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages

At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness

More than 90 per cent live in developing countries

The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device

Quick%20facts
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Five expert hiking tips
    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
Updated: December 29, 2021, 5:16 PM`