ABU DHABI // Customs officials seized thousands of illicit items from smugglers in the first half of this year.
Details of the haul, which included narcotics, counterfeit products and tobacco, were revealed in a Department of Finance report that showed a 12 per cent increase in the number of seizures compared to the same period the previous year.
From January to June this year, 7,434 smuggling attempts were foiled at Abu Dhabi’s air, land and sea borders, where customs officials also stopped 28 illegal immigrants from entering.
Mohammed Khadem Al Hameli, acting director general of the General Administration of Customs-Abu Dhabi, said they are working on developing inspection procedures.
“The administration also works on further developing inspection procedures by adopting the latest tech advancements, and providing the necessary training to raise the performance of customs inspectors in their role to protect the homeland and citizens from any risks of illegal trade,” he said.
Abu Dhabi Customs foiled 299 drug-smuggling attempts and seized almost 13kg of banned drugs and more than 2 million narcotic pills. Most were seized at the airport.
In one case, a 29-year-old Arab passenger at the airport was found to have 369 pills, 119 capsules of a restricted drug and 1.55 grams of crystal meth.
In another case, a 54-year-old Arab woman on a flight from an Asian country was found to have 3,200 narcotic pills hidden in her purse, while a 35-year-old man was caught with 10.28 grams of narcotics, 1,122 pills and 38 bottles filled with liquid made from a narcotic substance hidden in his personal belongings. Another case involved an Asian man, 19, found to be carrying 2,490 narcotic pills in his bag.
A 26-year-old Asian traveller was also found to have 1.6 kilograms of poppy seeds hidden in a box of sweets in his bag.
Customs centres recorded 76 alcohol-smuggling attempts and foiled 728 attempts to bring bootlegged tobacco in illegally.
There were 1,088 attempts to smuggle prescription drugs, expired drugs or drugs of quantities exceeding authorised limits into Abu Dhabi.
Officials also foiled 32 attempts to smuggle money into the country, as well as five attempts of commercial fraud such as non-disclosure of goods, manipulating product weight and country of origin details.
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