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Lord Mayonnaise
Registered: 08/20/08
Posts: 1,284
Loc: Sub Country
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Police seize 4.2m Captagon pills [UAE]
#11656613 - 12/15/09 04:10 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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By Awad Mustafa December 15 2009 - TheNational
Yousef al Adiadi, the director of administration affairs, holds a bag of Captagon pills during a press conference in Dubai. Nicole Hill / The National
DUBAI / In one of the UAE’s biggest drug hauls to date, police raided a warehouse and seized 4.2 million amphetamine-like pills that had been smuggled into the country in large textile rolls.
Police, who have a suspect in custody and have issued arrest warrants for several members of an alleged international drug smuggling ring in connection with Friday’s raid, estimated the Captagon pills could be sold on the street for about Dh210 million (US$57m).
“The drugs arrived on board a ship concealed in large textile rolls in a very professional manner. They were en route to be transferred to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the buyers would arrive,” said Major Gen Abdul Mahdi, head of the anti-narcotics department.
The seizure may be another indicator of the growing popularity of Captagon in the region. The pills are usually taken recreationally, but are also used by women as a weight loss aid and by students wanting to stay awake while cramming for examinations.
Gen Mahdi yesterday outlined the three-week operation that led to the seizure, which he said had been prompted by a tip-off from the Saudis.
Early last month, according to Gen Mahdi, Saudi anti-narcotics authorities provided Dubai Police with information that the drugs might be arriving in the UAE.
They placed a 35-year-old Arab national, whom police identified only by the alias they gave him – The Professional – under surveillance.
The suspect, who was arrested in the raid, had allegedly been dispatched by the ring to Dubai to receive the shipment of textile rolls from another Arab country.
The drugs are believed to have arrived at an unidentified port between November 15 and 20.
The suspect was then meant to repack and re-export them to another country, apparently Saudi Arabia, police said.
“On his own he unpacked the pills and repacked them then placed them in boxes so they can be re-exported,” Gen Mahdi said.
The suspect was awaiting a buyer before re-exporting the drugs, but the transaction was apparently delayed because of the Eid holiday. Lt Col Yousif Adaily of the police anti-narcotics department said the manufacturers of the pills probably sold them “wholesale” for about Dh16.8m.
“These pills were professionally packed and branded by the exporters,” he added.
Gen Mahdi said the same drug smuggling gang had managed to get a smaller shipment through Dubai earlier this year.
He confirmed that his department had issued international arrest warrants for the suspected heads of the gang, but declined to name their country or countries of origin.
“We have issued the warrants through the Ministry of Interior to the authorities concerned; we will not be looking to prosecute these heads in the UAE but will be providing any co-operation required to the authorities concerned,” he said.
Gen Mahdi said the pills were not intended for consumption in the UAE.
“The suspect has confessed to us and revealed the motives behind the crime. Authorities in the kingdom as well are conducting their investigations to net the potential buyers of the pills,” he said.
According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report issued in July last year, Saudi Arabia has seen a sharp rise in Captagon abuse.
Saudi authorities seized 12.3 tonnes of the drug in 2006, compared with 291kg just three years earlier.
The UN office also ranks Saudi Arabia as the biggest consumer of stimulants in the region.
The stimulants, according to the UNODC, are often trucked from Bulgaria and Turkey through to Syria and Jordan before being distributed throughout the Gulf.
The seizure is just the latest in a string in the UAE, and is by far the largest in Dubai this year.
Police had already seized more than 1.5 million Captagon pills in the first nine months of the year.
In one recent operation, the Ministry of Interior, Dubai Police and Sharjah Police recovered 400,000 pills destined for other countries.
Dubai Customs also earlier this year found 651,000 Captagon pills hidden inside 152 industrial-sized spools of thread.
Dubai Police arrested 77 suspects in 47 drug cases between January and September, including many who were using the UAE as a transit point to deliver narcotics to neighbouring countries.
Overall, the number of reported drugs cases in Dubai, including those involving drugs such as heroin and cocaine, is rising.
So far this year, the emirate has reported 1,021 arrests in 653 drug cases involving 233kg of seized narcotics. The previous year, it reported 734 arrests in 542 drug cases, with 158kg of narcotics seized.
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bluecurry
Dragons don't
Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 889
Loc: half past purple, between...
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Quote:
whom police identified only by the alias they gave him – The Professional
When you get the nickname The Professional from the police in a city of 2 million, you know you're hardcore.
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Lord Mayonnaise
Registered: 08/20/08
Posts: 1,284
Loc: Sub Country
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Re: Police seize 4.2m Captagon pills [UAE] [Re: bluecurry]
#11657682 - 12/15/09 06:49 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hehe
By the way, is that a Lexus logo on the baggie? Because it looks 'professional'.
Edited by Lord Mayonnaise (12/15/09 06:52 PM)
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Lucas89
lysergicmescalcybin
Registered: 07/03/08
Posts: 1,911
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its a lexus logo, very classy.
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smokescreen
80's Transformer
Registered: 08/13/09
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Loc: north carolina
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Re: Police seize 4.2m Captagon pills [UAE] [Re: Lucas89]
#11660760 - 12/16/09 07:56 AM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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I had never herd of captagon, so I wiki'd it: Fenethylline was invented in 1963 and used for around 25 years as a milder alternative to amphetamines. It was used in applications such as treating "hyperkinetic children" (what would now be referred to as ADHD), and also less commonly for treating narcolepsy or as an antidepressant. One of the main advantages of fenethylline was that it does not tend to increase blood pressure to the same extent as amphetamines and so could be used in patients with cardiovascular conditions.
Although fenethylline was considered to have fewer side effects and less potential for abuse than amphetamine, it nevertheless became illegal in most countries in 1986 after being listed by the World Health Organization for international scheduling under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, even though the actual incidence of fenethylline abuse was quite low.
[edit] Pharmacology Fenethylline is metabolised by the body to form two drugs amphetamine (24.5% of oral dose) and theophylline (13.7% of oral dose), both of which are active stimulants themselves. The physiological effects of fenethylline therefore result from a combination of all three drugs.
[edit] Abuse Abuse of fenethylline as the brand Captagon is most common in Arab countries, and counterfeit versions of the legal drug continue to be available despite now being illegal for 20 years. Nowadays many of these counterfeit "Captagon" tablets actually contain other amphetamine derivatives that are easier to produce, but are pressed and stamped to look like Captagon pills. Some Captagon pills analysed do contain fenethylline however, indicating that illicit production of this drug continues to take place
wow, never knew this!
-------------------- "Let's get together and feel alright"
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Lord Mayonnaise
Registered: 08/20/08
Posts: 1,284
Loc: Sub Country
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Re: Police seize 4.2m Captagon pills [UAE] [Re: smokescreen]
#11662945 - 12/16/09 03:26 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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Cool, I'm learning.
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