The Ras Al Khaimah Customs officers have foiled a bid to smuggle 1.5kg of pure heroine, worth some Dh750,000 as per street market value, at the RAK International Airport.

The narcotics, comprising 115 plastic-wrapped heroin packets were concealed in the guts of the Asian suspect who was nabbed red-handed, according to a top official here.

Brigadier Dr Mohammed Al Mahrazi, director general of the RAK Customs, said the customs inspectors suspected the passenger who looked unnaturally frantic, anxious, and tired.

“His luggage was manually searched and scanned, but nothing unusual was found. The X-ray scan done later showed an amount of strange objects inside his stomach.”

When asked about the nature of those objects, the suspect confessed to having swallowed packets stuffed with narcotics, he added.

Weirdly, the trafficker claimed to be aware of the content or number of the narcotics. “I didn’t know what kind of drug they contained neither did I know how many they were.”

The 115 packages were later found to be stuffed with around about 1.5kg of pure heroin. “Upon investigation, the smuggler admitted to receiving the narcotics at the departure airport from an Asian country.”

The druggie added that he was supposed to hand over the drugs to another person in the emirate in exchange for money. “The passenger, seizure investigation report and the seized items were handed over to RAK Police for legal action.”

Earlier, the RAK Customs stopped a druggie with 198 capsules of heroin, weighing some 2kg and valued at Dh1 million, that were extracted from his intestines.

Studies show that young people aging 14-20 are not well aware of the consequences of addiction to drugs, of which some are affordable and easily accessible.

Parents are urged to keep an eye on their children and protect them against narcotics. “It is not only the responsibility of law enforcement bodies to curb drugs; it is rather of all members of the society.”

Roua Abd Elalim, a pharmacist, told Khaleej Times that heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, spanning fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion. “it also leads to infectious diseases, like AIDS and hepatitis.”

Few weeks back, the RAK Customs stepped up smuggling fight with an all new system for scanning the gusts of suspected passengers. “The new sophisticated device, already in operation, stood at over Dh1.6 million,” said Dr. Mahrazi.

The new scanning system, installed at the RAK International Airport and the Darah land crossing border, will give a boost to the performance of customs work, and enhance safety, security and stability of the emirate, he added.

“The RAK Customs continually monitors ongoing developments in the market place in available X-ray and other technologies, and also continuously review their requirements and capability together with their selection and deployment of detection equipment.”

Source: khaleejtimes.com