Dubai Police busts gang of ‘holiday’ thieves

The Dubai Police arrested a gang of Arab-African burglars who specialised in robbing villas whose occupants might be travelling during festival holidays.

The five-member gang involved in several break-ins during the Ramadan holidays was traced to an Arab-African country and brought to Dubai to face trial, The Gulf Today reported on Thursday.

Brigadier Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri said the gang members burgled seven villas in Umm Sequiem and Al Safa areas during Ramadan and the total value of their loot was Dh13 million.

The gang had in fact planned to visit Dubai during the ongoing Eid holidays to commit such burglaries.

The gang members had in fact left their loot with a woman accomplice before leaving for their home country, as is their modus operandi to avoid getting caught.

The woman who helped sell the loot that includes valuables like jewels was also arrested. Police raided her house and recovered some of the loot.

The leads that she provided led investigators to city stores from where all the loot was recovered.

Investigations in the series of burglaries intensified when a woman reported theft of jewels worth Dh6 million from her villa.

The gang followed a simple methodology of knocking on the doors of villas during festival holidays. They would break in when no one answers.