An international crime gang were caught cold by Dubai Police after smuggling a huge haul of drugs from Asia to the UAE inside a refrigerated shipping container.
The offenders stashed 123kg of crystal meth in the bottom of the container designed for the transportation of fruit and vegetables as part of an elaborate ploy to evade detection.
Police set up 'Operation Fridge' after receiving a tip-off about their plans and lay in wait as the carefully-constructed criminal plot unfolded.
A local trader - unaware drugs were hidden inside - had collected and unloaded his shipment of fruit and vegetables at his market before placing what he believed to be an empty container in a sandy yard for parking and queuing containers.
Undercover officers kept the area under surveillance, awaiting the arrival of some of the gang members to collect the illicit shipment.
“One night, three individuals approached the yard and started looking for the refrigerated container,” said Brig Eid Mohammed Thani Hareb, director of the anti-narcotics department at Dubai Police.
“As they proceeded to unload the drugs, our team took them by surprise and arrested the suspects red-handed and foiled their desperate escape attempt."
Dubai Police worked in tandem with Sharjah Police and Sharjah Customs to thwart the attempt to flood the country with drugs.
Gen Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, commander-in-chief of Dubai Police, said authorities would leave no stone unturned in their efforts to root out criminal activity.
During questioning, the three men said they were instructed by the gang leader, who lives in an Asian country not specified by police, to take possession of the drugs in return for a Dh12,000 payment.
Brig Hareb urged members of the public to report suspicious activities to police by calling 901.
“It’s everyone’s duty to report individuals and suspicious. activities that pose harm to our society. Especially drugs related matters,” he said.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
