Dubai Police officials during the press conference.

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

Over 29,000 fake luxury watches of different brands were recently seized by Dubai Police, in an operation titled “60 Minutes.” The confiscated watches are worth Dhs1.2 billion.

The two Asian men were caught by the Dubai Police’s Department of Combating Economic Crimes, within 60 minutes of receiving a tip-off about the crime this January.

This came at a press conference organised by the Criminal Investigation Department on Monday, during which police officials revealed details of the operation.

Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, revealed that police had located the hideouts of suspects in Naif Area, and immediately raided the place to arrest them.

A general view of the Dubai Police Headquarters.

“The force had received a tip-off from a trusted source about the illegal business of the suspects in Naif area, and teams immediately began to investigate the case and located the suspects’ whereabouts. The Crime Analysis team were able to identify the suspects and find the location of the counterfeit items,” Briadier Al Jallaf said.

In addition, Brigadier Al Jallaf praised the great effort made by the force, and the strong coordination that contributed in the success of this operation.

Lastly, he emphasised the keenness of Dubai Police to provide full-on security to the UAE and the society, urging the public to cooperate with police and report any illegal or suspicious practices through contacting (901).

Dubai Police had revealed on Saturday that it had seized 1,560 kilogrammes of drugs and close to 14.8 million narcotic pills in 2019.

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According to a statement issued by Dubai Police, some 2,051 drug-related cases were uncovered last year, leading to the arrest of 3,128 suspects, the seizure of 1,560kg of illegal drugs, and 14,793,000 narcotic pills.

The force also blocked 58 websites that promoted the selling of drugs.

It also contributed to the confiscation 572kg of illegal drugs and narcotic pills, and the arrest of 215 suspects in 88 drug-related cases across other emirates during the same year.

The statistics were revealed during an appraisal meeting chaired by Dubai Police Commander-in-chief of Dubai Police, Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, who praised the efforts of the General Department of Anti-Narcotics in the Dubai Police in combatting drugs locally and internationally.

Major General Al Marri said that hundreds of kilograms of drugs and narcotics were seized last year in “world-class operations” including “Operation Stalker” that saw the capture of 16 members of an international drug trafficking gage, and seizure of 365kg of heroin, crystal meth and hashish worth Dhs278,050,000.

The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

He also spoke of “Operation Listah” which saw the arrest of 12 Asian nationals and the seizure of 194kg of narcotics concealed on a boat’s deck.

Brigadier Eid Muhammad Thani Hareb, Director of Anti-Narcotics at Dubai Police, said that they are working tirelessly, in cooperation with other sectors from inside and outside the Dubai Police, to address this serious issue and arrest drug traffickers and promoters, to protect our society and the youth.

The Dubai Police General HQ is sparing no effort in fighting drugs internationally as well. They believe that drug smuggling is a thorny cross-border issue that requires international cooperation to combat and eliminate, he added.

Hareb explained that they worked to supply different countries with 93 bits of crucial information in 2019, which helped in the arrest of 27 suspects and the seizure of 11 tonnes, 896 grams and 500mg of drugs.

Last Wednesday the Dubai Police have revealed how a highly-trained dog helped them bust a bid to smuggle drug pills with a street value of Dhs1.8 billion.

A special operation named after a man’s best friend ‘Pule’ helped seize 5.6 tonnes of Captagon pills. Al Marri revealed the details of the operation, which targeted one of the largest drug smuggling syndicates in the country under the close follow-up of Lt. General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.

Al Marri thanked the UAE’s leadership for enabling security authorities in performing their duties to maintain the country’s security and safety, stressing that the Dubai Police are ready to control all types of drugs and capture perpetrators.

The gang, spearheaded by a 70-year-old Arab based in Sharjah, attempted to smuggle the pills through a shipment of electricity cables from Syria to Jebel Ali. The shipment was to be re-exported to another Arab country, investigations showed.

The suspect used to receive financial aid from a charity organisation after claiming to be unemployed, the police said.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Al Marri said ‘operation Pule 2’ involved officers searching and investigating over 200 containers to detect the drugs. Within 10 days, the well-trained dog Pule sniffed out the entire illegal consignment.