Sharjah Police foil two cocaine smuggling operations, seize 17kg

Sharjah Police have disrupted two cocaine smuggling operations, one domestic and one international, seizing a combined 17 kilograms of the drug and arresting several suspects linked to a multi-country trafficking network.

The force’s Directorate of Drug Prevention and Control, working in coordination with the Sharjah Ports, Customs and Free Zones Authority, intercepted an alleged international scheme to bring more than 12kg of cocaine into the UAE.

Police said officers tracked suspicious activity across four countries before arresting the suspected ringleader, an Asian national, upon his arrival in the UAE via a Gulf state. Two alleged recipients inside the country, both African nationals, were also detained.

Investigators, working with the National Centre for Early Inquiry, later identified a fourth suspect travelling through a UAE airport en route to another Gulf state.

Authorities alerted their counterparts in the destination country, who seized nearly 5kg of cocaine and detained the passenger within hours.

Major Majid Sultan Al-Assam, Director of Sharjah’s Drug Prevention and Control Directorate, said the rapid coordination between agencies was crucial to dismantling what he described as an “international criminal network”. He praised the accuracy of the tracking and intelligence work, and the swift exchange of information with regional partners.

Sharjah Police said the operations underscored the emirate’s security readiness and the strength of cooperation between local, federal and international bodies in combating drug trafficking and protecting the community.