New Articles

Dubai Customs Confirms Seizure of 1.5 Tons of Prohibited Captagon

dubai customs

Dubai Customs Confirms Seizure of 1.5 Tons of Prohibited Captagon

Dubai Customs confirmed a successful start to 2022 with the thwarting of the country’s largest haul of crushed captagon, known as an illegal stimulant, earlier this week according to a recent release.

A whopping 1.5 tons of the substance was discovered by duel efforts by the Customs Operations Room at the Sea Customs Center Management and the customs port control project, Siyaj. This successful inspection and protective outcome further positions Dubai Customs and its affiliated partners as leaders in protecting consumers and markets from illegal and potentially harmful materials, substances, and products.

“Safety and protecting our society is a strategic priority,” said H.E. Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World Group Chairman & CEO and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation. “This balance between protection, safety and security from one side and facilitating trade and tourism activity is not compromised. Dubai Customs’ people are very professional and always on the lookout for any illegitimate and suspicious activity without disrupting shipment clearance operations. This operation is an example of what we do to secure our borders. Dubai is, and will always remain, a safe place for investment and trade following the wise directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and in fulfillment of the emirate’s bold plans and projects.”

Counterfeit and illegal products and substances are an added layer of potential disruption along the supply chain, particularly for customs clearance and affiliated operations. Dubai Customs proves once again the importance of reliable partnerships as a key driver throughout the process. Thwarting the clearing of such substances is not new for Dubai Customs, though. In 2019, an estimated 10.715 million pills in a matter of months.

“Dubai Customs never ceases to develop and improve their inspection systems. We have plans set to monitor, follow and intercept high-risk shipments, supported by our highly trained inspectors and sophisticated systems and devices.”

Dubai Customs Adds 5.7 million Captagon Pills to Seizure List in 2019

A combination of strategic planning, cooperation, a customs K-9 Dog unit, and smart inspection technology supported efforts to thwart an attempt to smuggle 5.715 million Captagon pills at Jebel Ali & Tecom Customs Center. Dubai Customs – also known for seizing an illegal shipment of 5 million Captagon pills back in January, confirmed this latest smuggling attempt utilized bags of red lentils to conceal the pills.

“We are vigilant and well prepared to all attempts of bringing these illegal contrabands into the UAE through Dubai entry points. The high sophisticated level that Dubai Customs reached in terms of infrastructure, equipment and the skills of their customs officers have led to more control over the emirate’s entry points and borders following the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai,” Director General of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih said.

This seizure brings the total number of Captagon pills confiscated by Dubai Customs to 10.715 million pills in less than five months. The high-levels of communication and coordination between Jebel Ali & Tecom Customs Center and the Dubai Customs Intelligence Center serves as major factor for successful confiscations of illegal shipments. Jebel Ali & Tecom Customs Center’s one-of-a-kind container detection system provided the information needed for the final determination of risk involved with the illegal shipment.

“The full X-ray container detection system, the first of its kind in the world, can process 150 containers per hour,” Yousef Al Hashimi, Director of the Jebel Ali Customs Centres Management said. “These achievements at the Jebel Ali Customs Centre Management support our preparations for the upcoming Expo 2020. We have a very advanced smart risk engine in place which we developed in-house to track all coming shipments and classify them based on their risk level” he concluded.