Dubai police in record $31m drugs haul

Dubai police have made a record drug seizure of some 4.6 million Captagon pills, an amphetamine-like stimulant, worth more than $31 million (23 million euros), the local press reported Monday. 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.