eight Iranians and two Pakistanis were sentenced to death for smuggling 2.5 tonnes of hashish.

In a landmark verdict by the Khorfakan Criminal Court on Monday, eight Iranians and two Pakistanis were sentenced to death for smuggling 2.5 tonnes of hashish.


Another Iranian accused was served with 10 years in jail followed by deportation. Three others, aged 11, 14 and 17, also Iranians, were ordered to be deported. They are the sons of the kingpin of the gang and owner of the boat. The verdict is open to appeal in 15 days, a source at the court told Khaleej Times.

Presiding judge of the three-bench court Ahmed Saeed Al Naqabi ordered the confiscation of the seized contraband and the boat the suspects had used to transport the hashish, which was hidden in bags of flour kept under fishing nets.

According to court records, the case dated to January this year when the Sharjah Police arrested the gang of 14 and seized the hashish after they attempted to smuggle the contraband through Khorfakan coast in Sharjah, which lies close to Fujairah.

Code-named ‘Eastern Storm’, the joint operation was conducted by the anti-narcotics wing of the Sharjah Police Department, the Coast Guard, the air wing of the police and the anti-narcotics section of Fujairah Police. “The seized drugs were packed inside flour bags and stashed at the bottom of the boat under the fishing nets,’’ police said.

According to police, they were tipped off by an informant that a gang in a boat laden with drugs was on their way to the UAE in an effort to find a buyer.

On landing near Khorfakan, a police official managed to make contact with a gang member and convinced him that he was keen on buying the drugs. Negotiations continued over many days until the kingpin was convinced of the offer and a deal was struck.

The suspects agreed to deliver the contraband at an appointed time and place. Meanwhile, the police tracked the location of the boat and a team launched a raid and arrested the suspects who gave up without putting up a fight.

The haul was the second biggest seizure of its kind after an earlier incident in 1991 when officials foiled a bid to smuggle in three tonnes of hashish. An international gang of smugglers was arrested in what was known as the ‘Khorfakan Operation’.