The bulk value of the drug was estimated at 40 million dirhams; the overall street value would have been much larger had the drugs made it on to the black market.
The heroin had been stashed in the fuel tanks of seven trucks. Police raided an unspecified number of houses and arrested suspects after a sting operation was set up on Aug. 7. The bust occurred the next day.
Announcing the arrests at a press conference, Col. Abdullah Mubarak Dukhan, deputy director general of Sharjah police, said this was the first time that such ingenious methods were used to smuggle in drugs to the UAE. However, he refused to disclose the source of the drugs or the port from where the consignments were brought.
Police said they reacted to an anonymous tip. At least two men have been arrested after police found $ 163,000 in the vehicle.
At the residence of one of the suspects, police said they found several travel bags filled with the drug.
At another residence police found packaging and processing tools, including plastic bags and weighing instruments.
The two men provided information that led to a food warehouse where two of the vehicles that had been used to smuggle the drugs were discovered.
An unspecified number of suspects were arrested at that location. Other trucks were found at different locations and are being tested for traces of the drug.
