Energy drinks, chewing gum: New ways to smuggle drugs

New ways to smuggle drugs

- Afkar Ali Ahmed [e-mail]

Customs officers use advanced scanning systems, drug-detection dogs, and behavioural analysis to catch smugglers attempting to bring in disguised narcotics.

The Dubai Public Prosecution has uncovered sophisticated new tactics used by drug traffickers to smuggle toxic substances into the local market, methods so deceptive they appear harmless to the unsuspecting eye.

Officials say traffickers are turning to increasingly creative ways to distribute these substances, camouflaging them as everyday products that young people often use or consume, such as energy drinks

According to Abdullah Saleh Al Raisi, deputy chief prosecutor at the Dubai Drugs Prosecution, these synthetic drugs are now being manufactured in “startling new forms” — including ordinary sheets of paper saturated with highly potent chemicals and counterfeit energy drinks carrying well-known brand logos.