Dubai: The UAE has identified a new trend for trafficking drugs in the form of liquid cocaine, according to an Interpol report published on Tuesday.

Operation Lionfish – ASEAN, which involved more than 2,000 police and customs officials across 14 countries, revealed a network of West African and Asian organised crime groups behind trafficking in methamphetamine – one of the most smuggled drugs in the region.

The first phase of the operation focused on drug trafficking through airports, while the second targets land and sea borders.

In a statement, the Interpol Global Complex in Singapore, which coordinated the international anti-drug campaign in May, said: “During the first week of the operation, authorities in the UAE identified an increasing trend of liquid cocaine being trafficked."

OPERATION LIONFISH ASEAN: #UAE requested an INTERPOL Purple Notice on modus operandi for trafficking liquid #cocaine https://t.co/h6FrBJtLW1 pic.twitter.com/NsotJrqmcS — INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) May 30, 2017

“Smugglers would swallow condoms packed with liquid cocaine but unlike other drugs, this type of concealment is harder to detect by traditional x-ray or computed tomography imagery,” said Interpol in a statement.

After identifying the latest trend, UAE authorities requested an Interpol Purple Notice be issued to all 190 member countries outlining this modus operandi and methods for detection.

According to the report, a large number of the arrests made during the anti-drug operation helped authorities identify a cocaine trafficking route via Ethiopia to destinations in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific.

During the two-week operation, authorities made 59 seizures and nearly a quarter were methamphetamine weighing as much as 121kg – out which nearly 80 per cent was in the form of crystalline, known as ‘ice’.

In total, the Interpol-led campaign resulted in the seizure of 350kg, 50 litres and 2,175 tablets of illicit drugs including cocaine, cannabis, heroin and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) worth an estimated $18 million (Dh66 million).

Operation Lionfish – ASEAN

The international anti-drug operation was supported by law enforcement from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries:

Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

It also include the collaboration of the following countries:

Australia, Brazil, China, Hong Kong (China), Qatar, Togo and the UAE.

The operation was supported by funding from the UAE via the Interpol Foundation for a Safer World.