DHAKA: Dubai police have made a record drug seizure of some 4.6 million Captagon pills, an amphetamine-like stimulant, worth more than $31 million.

The local press reported Monday, says TDS.

Dubai’s police chief, Major General Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, said the ‘outstanding operation’ codenamed ‘Nine ball’ had dealt a major blow to drug trafficking in the United Arab Emirates, the Khaleej Times newspaper reported.

Mazeina said five people of different Arab nationalities were implicated in the shipment, three of whom have been arrested.

Captagon was originally the brand name for fenethylline, a synthetic stimulant.

The black market version, increasingly popular in the Middle East, often contains amphetamines and caffeine, according to a 2011 report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

BDST: 1646 HRS, DEC 23, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor