Israelis smuggle drugs into Dubai for New Year's celebrations

(Karachi) In a startling revelation, droves of Israelis who recently travelled to Dubai to celebrate the New Year, smuggled huge quantity of hashish and marijuana into the country amid strict drug laws, an article published in The Jerusalem Post stated.

Israelis who were banned from traveling on foreign passports to the Arab world, have made themselves at home in the UAE’s commercial hub. Scores have celebrated weddings, bar mitzvahs and the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah with large gatherings banned back home.

No fear

The report transpired that approximately 8,000 Israeli nationals travelled to Dubai to enjoy the new destination recently made available for Israelis and celebrate the Near Year in city's glamorous rooftop parties.

As per the article, one of the Israelis who smuggled drugs into Dubai said that he does not fear being caught by the authorities in the city. “All we did was smuggle some hashish and marijuana to celebrate Silvester (New Year’s Eve) and get high. It isn’t cocaine, it’s light drugs," he stated.

"I don’t believe that we’ll get in trouble. A death sentence for a few hundred grams in our suitcases? We only smoke in our hotel room,” he said.

Similarly, another Israeli national who smuggled drugs said that he only realized that he may spend a long time in jail if caught with drugs after landing.

“Only when we arrived did we realize that we’re taking a risk, so we decided to only smoke in our rooms," he maintained.

He said, "We won’t walk around with hashish, we’ll party in our room and finish everything that we brought with us.”

“We took a risk, but we came here to celebrate, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Authorities in Dubai stressed in the past week that citizens and tourists who violate guidelines during the New Year's Eve celebrations will be heavily fined. According to the restrictions, gatherings of more than 30 people are not allowed.

Meanwhile, data collected from travel agents revealed that at least 70,000 Israeli tourists arrived in Dubai on 15 nonstop daily flights in December 2020.

Normalization of ties pact

A few months ago, the UAE and Bahrain signed agreements to normalize relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran.

US President Donald Trump hosted the White House ceremony, capping a dramatic month when first the UAE and then Bahrain agreed to reverse decades of ill will without a resolution of Israel's decades-old dispute with the Palestinians.

The deals, denounced by the Palestinians, make them the third and fourth Arab states to take such steps to normalize ties since Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

The pact which brought Israel, the UAE and Bahrain together reflects their shared concern about Iran's rising influence in the region and development of ballistic missiles. Iran has been critical of the agreement.