Qatar’s General Directorate of Drug Control arrested a gang of five men of Asian nationality who tried to smuggle about 100 kilograms of hashish into the country for trafficking, the Interior Ministry announced on 23 December 2019.[1][2] Tipped off that the gang was moving drugs inside the country, investigators put suspects under watch and found a warehouse where narcotics were hidden in containers carrying a shipment of marble stones, packed inside the cavities of the marble.[2]

After obtaining a Public Prosecution order, officers raided the warehouse as the gang began cutting the containers open, catching the defendants in the act and extracting about 100 kilograms of hashish packed in 192 cylindrical envelopes.[2] The men confessed to smuggling and storing the drugs for trade and guided police to the remaining gang members; all were referred to the competent authorities for legal procedures.[1][2]