The anti narcotics officials of the Dubai police have busted an international drugs trafficking gang which was planning to smuggle a huge quantity of heroin to a number of countries, WAM news agency reported Monday.

The anti-narcotics officials seized over 6.1 kg heroin worth 615,200 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($167,730) from the African gang during a raid Sunday, an official with the Crime Investigation Department said.

'The arrest of the African gang was triggered by police's discovery of a filter in the parcel in which the heroin capsules, weighing over 1.1 kg, were hidden at Dubai cargo village. The parcel was ready to be flown to an African country,' the official said.

After the discovery of the parcel, the CID tracked down the sender, who was staying at a hotel in Dubai.

The police raided his room and found many heroin capsules, weighing 4,458 kg.

He was arrested along with one of his aides who police suspected to have swallowed some strange materials.

According to the police, the man vomited 54 capsules of heroin, weighing 783 grams, after his arrest.

Both suspects were referred to public prosecution for further investigation, pending trial.

The UAE, Dubai in particular, is a major regional transportation and shipping hub which gives drug traffickers a chance to smuggle the narcotics to Europe and the US.