Dubai Police arrested more than 1,000 people in connection with drug-related offences and seized more than a tonne of drugs in the last three months of 2020. The anti-narcotics department confiscated 1.034 tonnes of class A and B drugs – including heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana. This was more than half of all the drugs seized in the UAE over this period. Over those three months, Dubai Police arrested 1,044 suspects in connection with drug-related offences. This represented more than half the total of 2,176 people detained in connection with drug offences in the UAE over this period. Brig Gen Eid Hareb, director of the anti-narcotics department, said some of the arrests were of suspects believed to be involved in international drug rings. “International co-operation is a key factor to combating drugs,” he said. “We helped provide different countries with 86 tip-offs that led to the confiscation of 3,512 tonnes of drugs in those countries and the arrest of 34 suspects in the last quarter of 2020,” he said. Brig Gen Hareb said there had been an increase in drug cases from 2019, indicating a harsher crackdown from police. Some people were arrested for attempting to promote and sell drugs on social media. Brig Gen Hareb said dealers would attempt to avoid arrest by sending their customers a GPS location of where the drugs were hidden, after receiving a money transfer. “During the same period, the department blocked 16 accounts on social media for promoting drugs,” he said.