UAE security forces thwart attempt to smuggle weapons, military equipment .
Members of a cell engaged in the illegal brokering, mediation and trade of arms were apprehended by authorities along with their lack of permission to work in this field.
The aircraft had been loaded with some 5,000,000 rounds of ammunition in 7.62 x 54.7 mm calibre, Giranov type. Two of the suspects were also located with a portion of the money from the deal I their hotel rooms. 
Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, the Attorney-General said that it was found members of the cell were in contact with high-ranking Sudanese military leaders.
Among those implicated are the former chief of Sudanese intelligence, Salah Gosh, a former intelligence officer, an aide to the former Minister of Finance and a politician close to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Yasser al-Atta, as well as several Sudanese business people.
They brokered a multi-million-dollar military equipment sale including Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, machine guns and grenades.
The military transferred the arms to an importing company within the UAE via the Hawala Dar system and a company set up by a fugitive member of the cell who was working for the Sudanese Armed Forces.
This was done in collusion with Colonel Othman Al-Zubair, the director of financial operations in the Sudanese military, through artificial commercial contracts and fictitious invoices on the pretense of sugar imports.
The investigation found the transactions to have been carried out on behalf of the on behalf of the Sudanese Armed Forces Armament Committee, which is headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Yasser al-Atta, with their explicit knowledge and approval. Its committee specifically assigned cell members to broker and conclude deals, for example via Ahmed Rabie Ahmed Al-Sayed, a politician close to the army leadership and who issued the end-user certificates and approvals.
The probe also established that Salah Gosh was heavily involved in organising the illegal arms trading activities in the UAE with assistance from other members of the cell.
They earned $2.6 million in profit margin from the two deals, which was divided up among themselves and their associates. The operation also seized profits that went to Salah Gosh, as well as to Khalid Youssef Mokhtar Youssef, an ex-intelligence officer, and Gosh’s former chief of staff.
It also emerged that a consignment recently seized at an airport in the UAE, onboard a private jet had come from a foreign land and had stopped at another airport to refuel. It was announced as transporting medical supplies and medical equipment, but military supplies were found in the ship under the supervision of the Public Prosecution, based on judicial warrants from the Attorney General’s office.
Investigators also gathered contract images for both trades, doctored shipping documents, and messages and recordings traded between cell members.
The inquiry also revealed that a Sudanese-born businessman with Ukrainian citizenship owned at least several companies, including one in the UAE. These companies were involved in providing the Sudanese army with weapons, ammunition, hand grenades, and drones in cooperation with the cell members and the Sudanese military’s financial officer. One of the companies is subject to US sanctions.
A current investigation reveals that the group’s economic advantage effectively depends on further internal conflict in the Sudan.
The Attorney General stressed that the case is a grave violation of national security, because it converted the UAE into a platform for transporting illegal weapons to the country at war. And it is also criminal acts which are punishable, criminal.
He added that the Public Prosecution is still conducting its probe in preparation for referring the accused to a speedy trial, and the end results will be revealed when the investigation is completed.
