DUBAI, UAE – Customs officers in Dubai seized 171.2 kilograms of cocaine worth over $54 million U.S. dollars (over Dh200 million) in a shipment of fresh bananas.
Gulf News reports that this is one of the biggest seizures of its kind in the UAE over the past five years. The shipment arrived at Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali from Latin America via Europe, and the drugs were hidden inside of boxes of fresh bananas.
Ahmed Al Kharusi, Director of Customs Intelligence Department at Dubai Customs (DC), said that the successful operation falls within DC’s strategy to combat illicit trafficking, according to Customs Today.
The discovery came as a collective effort where the Customs Intelligence Department collected and assessed intelligence data and conducted filed monitoring with the Jebel Ali Inspection Centre. The shipment was immediately confiscated upon arrival.
Gulf News reports that in an attempt to get around security measures like X-ray screening, k-9 unit inspection and more, the smugglers added extra lead on the container, painted narcotic bags with an organic substance to fool the dogs, changed the shipping route to a European port first and even included ‘sorcery items.’ Yes. You read that right. Sorcery items.
Despite the myriad of tricks to try to smuggle in the drugs, it obviously wasn’t enough to get past customs.
