DUBAI, March 3: The United Arab Emirates has ordered local banks to freeze the accounts of 21 individuals and nine businesses suspected of involvement in laundering drug money, the UAE central bank governor said on Saturday.

Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi did not give details about the size of the alleged money laundering, which he said was still under investigation.

The money came from drug sales in Western countries, he said, without being more specific.

"Money was pushed into European banks and came here through front companies," Suweidi told reporters. "All of the businesses were shut down and the individuals taken into police custody."

Arab countries in the Gulf, the world's top oil exporting region, have been fighting money laundering, particularly since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, but experts say that money obtained by illegal means is still around.

The maximum penalty for money laundering in the UAE is seven years in prison and a 10 million dirham ($2.72m) fine, Suweidi said. —Reuters