Dubai Police report significant success in combating drug-related crimes

DUBAI: During the first quarter of 2023, the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police reported significant success in combating drug-related crimes, apprehending 47 percent of total suspects arrested in the country during this period.

The Department also confiscated 238 kilograms of drugs and 6 million narcotic pills in Dubai, which constitutes 36 percent of the total amounts seized nationwide. The narcotics seized included a wide range of substances such as cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, opium, marijuana, and hashish, in addition to narcotic pills.

The announcement was made during a performance evaluation meeting of the General Department of Anti-Narcotics for Q1 2023, presided over by His Excellency Lt. General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, and attended by senior police officials.

The meeting discussed the Department’s plans and working mechanisms, as well as the strategies in place to combat drug trafficking and implement educational awareness programmes. The meeting also covered drug-related cases recorded by Dubai Police during the past year and the first three months of 2023, in comparison with the same period in 2022.

Statistics revealed that Dubai Police contributed to providing 65 vital pieces of information to various countries during Q1 2023, leading to the arrest of 65 suspects and seizure of 842 kilograms of drugs, including khat, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. This underscores the Department’s belief that the drug problem is transnational and requires international cooperation for its eradication.

During the same period, the Department succeeded in detecting and blocking 208 social media accounts promoting drugs, representing 28 percent of such accounts blocked nationwide.

Colonel Abdullah Al Khayat, Director of Hemaya International Centre, reviewed the centre’s achievements in Q1 2023, with a total of 24,204 beneficiaries from various nationalities receiving student and community programmes. He confirmed that the number of beneficiaries increased compared to previous years, with a total of 6,092,699 individuals benefiting from social media sites and awareness programmes.