Dubai Customs has made 3,094 seizures since the beginning of this year up to the end of September across all land, sea and air customs centres at a rate of 11 seizures per day.

The seized items included narcotics, non-incendiary weapons, firearms and accessories, counterfeit and banned products, fake and prohibited medicines, obscene content and items used in witchcraft. Other interceptions included attempts of customs duty evasion and undeclared goods, said a statement from Dubai Customs.

Air customs centres made the lion's share of seizures followed by land customs entry-points and then by sea customs centers and then post clearance audit.

“The colossal number of conducted seizures bear testimony to the advanced role Dubai Customs plays in curbing smuggling and global illicit trade,” remarked Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, the director of Dubai Customs.

“These achievements reinforce the UAE’s stature worldwide as a safe, thriving place to live and do business. Our high-qualified, constantly trained and developed human resources are the basis of such success and we have enhanced their operational capacities by introducing cutting-edge smart scanning and inspection technologies in all customs points of entry,” he added.

Musabih said Dubai Customs works diligently in synergy with all relevant government partners and international organizations such as WCO, RILO and WIPO to ensure the safety, security and stability of Dubai and the UAE and support national and local economies by assuring a safe environment for investment and business growth.

"We are strongly committed to protecting society and sustaining economic development through striking a balance between stringent border control and streamlined facilitation of movement of goods and people," he added.-TradeArabia News Service