Abu Dhabi’s largest mobile phone shop burgled

Thieves targetting Abu Dhabi’s largest mobile phone shop smashed their way into the premises late at night and stole nearly Dh1 million worth of expensive mobile handsets before escapting with their big loot.

Five unknown men, wearing traditional dresses of an Asian country, broke into Royal Mobile's store on Defence Road in the capital before dawn and picked scores of expensive handsets, including Blackberry, i-Phone, i-pad and Samsung Galaxy, filling two large bags they had brought and left the place without a trace.

Security cameras in the shop caught the five emptying its shelves but the images were unclear because of the darkness.

Mobile phone dealers in the area said the thieves had picked the right time for their daring operation as the shop was well-stocked at the time of the theft.

“They seem to have chosen the end of the month to carry out their operation as mobile phone shops usually buy new stuff at this time,” one dealer told Emirates 24l7.

Police were still in the area in the morning while their experts were inside the shop taking fingerprints, according to sources.

Royal Mobile store is the largest GSM phone shop in Abu Dhabi. The shop, opened nearly a year ago, occupies three ground and underground levels in a building on Defence Road.

Its Syrian owners spent more than Dh150,000 on decoration of the shop which has an area of more than 1,000 square metres.

Police have reported many burglaries of mobile phone shops on Defence Road, where more than 150 such shops are located. Daily turnover in that market exceeds Dh2 million and most of the dealers are Syrians.

ALSO READ:

New cash: UAE Central Bank to issue two new currency notes

BlackBerry 10 Dubai launch: Will RIM’s first real innovation in 10 years be its last?

What To Do When: UAE vendor refuses refund for faulty car, electronics... or even clothes

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.