ABU DHABI // More than 30,000 bottles of alcohol hidden in crates marked ‘apples’ were found by custom officials in a lorry headed out of the UAE and into Saudi Arabia.
Security officers at Al Ghuwaifat customs were tipped off about an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of alcohol. Customs inspectors checked a lorry with UAE licence plates at the border checkpoint.
Using scanning equipment, officials found the bottles in boxes labelled ‘apples’.
In total, 2,559 cardboard boxes each containing a dozen bottles were found, totalling 30,708 bottles.
In a separate incident, an Arab passenger was found in possession of 8,000 pills hidden in his belongings when inspectors searched buses entering the UAE through Al Ghuwaifat.
The seized pills are classified as stimulants that can only be prescribed by a doctor, officals said. Both suspects were arrested by customs inspectors and legal action is under way.
Mohammed Khadem Al Hameli, acting director general of the General Administration of Customs, said the recovery highlighted the cooperation between security services in supporting customs officials to deal with criminals.
The department sought to “implement the latest customs inspection procedures and systems to combat any attempt to smuggle contraband across land, sea and airports,” he said.
The Al Ghuwaifat border post is the largest in the UAE and handled more than 2.5 million vehicles entering and exiting the country last year.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m
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