UAE Reports Seizure of 'An Iranian Boat' Carrying Drugs

On Tuesday, November 22, the police of the United Arab Emirates announced the seizure of an Iranian ship carrying drugs and the arrest of its crew at Khalid Port in Sharjah. This report was met with a response from the Technical and Commercial Deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, who stated that none of the ships belonging to this shipping line have been seized in UAE ports. According to the UAE's official news agency (WAM), Colonel Saeed Al-Suwaidi, the Director General of the Anti-Narcotics Department of the UAE Ministry of Interior, said that a joint team from the Anti-Narcotics Department and the Sharjah Police successfully seized an Iranian ship whose captain was attempting to smuggle large quantities of drugs into the UAE. Al-Suwaidi added that during this operation, 11.5 kilograms of hashish and 142,725 narcotic pills were discovered and confiscated in one of the ship's hidden compartments. He mentioned that 10 crew members of the ship, two of whom had lost consciousness due to oxygen deprivation while hiding in one of the ship's compartments, were arrested. A security source in the Sharjah police informed the UAE's official news agency that this operation took place on October 25 after police forces became suspicious of the ship and its occupants. According to the report, the ship's captain confessed during interrogation that he had brought the drugs at the request of an Iranian trafficker for several drug dealers with the aim of selling them in the UAE. The report adds that 16 suspects in this case have been handed over to the prosecutor's office, and the ship has been seized for legal proceedings. In response to this news, Ali Izati, the Technical and Commercial Deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told Fars News Agency: 'The ships belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines have not faced any issues in any of the UAE ports.' He continued: 'We have not received any news regarding this matter, and none of our ships have been seized or even delayed by UAE officials.' Mr. Izati, in response to the question of whether the mentioned ship might belong to private shipping lines, said: 'The owners of the ship should comment; sometimes due to technical faults, a ship may be stopped, which continues its journey after the fault is resolved, and such technical issues are completely normal.'