Dubai Customs sets up special drugs taskforce

TRAFFICKING CRACKDOWN: Dubai Customs has set up a special taskforce to tackle the trade in contraband. (Getty Images)

Dubai Customs has set up a special taskforce to tackle the illegal trade in drugs, weapons and other contraband, its executive director said in comments published on Sunday.

Mohammad Al-Marri said the 120-strong team would be deployed at every entry point into the emirate and would use the latest technology and detection methods, UAE daily The National reported.

Dubai is geographically situated along a major trafficking route between Asia and the West. The United Nations has highlighted the emirate as a key transient point for heroin from Afghanistan.

Al-Marri said Dubai Customs had seen a 79 percent jump in the detection rate of smuggled heroin from 2006 to 2007, according to the newspaper.

"The techniques used by smugglers were outside of the Dubai Customs' reach until it authorised the special team,” Al-Marri was quoted as saying.

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