Sneak peek: On the prowl

Sauntering though the dark roads of the Al Quoz industrial area just after midnight, and armed with a night-vision camcorder, XPRESS got a chance to tag along in an undercover stake-out backed by Dubai Municipality officials.

Tariq Ahmad Al Shamsi, Operations Supervisor at the Municipality’s Sewerage and Irrigation System Section, allowed XPRESS staffers to accompany him and Hassan Al Hamwi, a Lebanese engineer, who first reported the illegal dumping of sewage water.

Guiding us on our stake-out was Mohammad Ali (not his real name), an insider in the drainage tanker business, who showed us how they operated.

Ali took us to the storm drains in the industrial area to show us how some were marked and camouflaged so that others may not use them. Once on the prowl, Al Shamsi pointed out, "Out of the 20 or so drains we’ve seen so far, all of them show signs that they have been used in the last 24 hours."

At around 2am, as we came around the back of a cement factory, we spotted a tanker ‘in the act’. The initial plan was to document what was happening without arousing suspicion, but Al Hamwi got over-excited and blew our cover. Then Al Shamsi rushed to the tanker and confiscated the man’s driving licence and registration.

Knowing that they always operated in pairs, Al Shamsi started looking around for the partner. As expected, the man was crouching behind one of the truck’s large tyres, hoping not to be spotted. In fact, he tried to talk his way out saying "It’s only laundry water."

Taking advantage of the few seconds of distraction, the driver called to warn his colleagues. Though we caught him in the act it was too late – he had already raised the alarm!

We then retraced our steps to check the storm drains again. Roads that were dry only minutes ago were now soaked in raw sewage. However, the tankers could not be spotted.

Call

The Drainage and Irrigation section at 800 4006 or the Municipality Emergency at 800 900