During the “illusionary fabrics" operation, Dubai Customs has foiled an attempt to smuggle 252,000 capsules of Tramadol which were hidden in a container laden with herbs of various types on board of a commercial ship coming from an Asian country through Jebel Ali Port.
Dubai Customs inspectors working at Jebel Ali customs centre have suspected the content of a container on board the freighter as they were suspicious and unconvinced with customs declaration which showed that the container was laden with fabrics.
Saeed Ahmed Al Tayer, Director of Jebel Ali Custom Centers, said the search proved that the container had no fabrics inside at all but a big amount of around 252,000 capsules of Tramadol, bags of the outlawed Neswar substance and Asian herbals of various types, violating the items listed in the customs declaration. The department has kept the seized substances.
Saeed Al Tayer added that “after that administration of Jebel Ali customs centres coordinated with the General Department of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police to chase owners of the goods and arrest them in line with the procedures followed.”
This seizure reflects the various smuggling methods and techniques smugglers use smuggle banned substances to the country. The importing company has not just violated the customs procedures by providing wrong information in the customs declaration about the content of the cargo, but also attempted to bring illegal forbidden substances that cause critical health problems and, therefore, the case is classified as a smuggling crime according to Article 5/145 of the Common Customs Law of the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
The seizure is also classified as a crime according to the UAE laws and the Cabinet decision number (15) for the year 2011 on the annex to the Union Law number (14) for the year 1995, concerning the provision related to the Anti-Drug Trafficking in which Tramadol is classified as among the forbidden narcotics.
Director of Jebel Ali Custom Centers also pointed out that despite the very complicated and tricky methods smugglers such forbidden substances used through claiming first that the cargo contained fabrics then hiding the forbidden substance inside the herbals, the customs inspectors succeeded in uncovering the forbidden substance as a result of their experience and detection skills in recognizing various types of prohibited substances which they acquired from the training courses that the customs department offered to them which focused on boosting their search skills and sense of security and, understanding body language. The customs department also provides inspectors with the latest devices and equipment to facilitate their duties, accelerate customs procedures and contribute to detecting various types of prohibited substances.
Due to the increasing spread of Tramadol as well as its classification as a forbidden substance, Dubai Customs has launched a campaign during the second half of this year to boost the public awareness about the dangers of Tramadol.
The campaign, which was launched in cooperation with Dubai Media Incorporated and Dubai Health Authority, aimed at warning against the use of Tramadol which leads to a set of health problems, including difficulty in breathing, slow heartbeat, coma, drop in blood pressure, heartbeat stop and consequently death.