Date dough burglars have five-year sentences upheld at appeals court

Four of the six Sri Lankans were found to have hidden jewellery in date dough as they tried to flee the country through Dubai airport.

DUBAI // Six men will have to see out their five years in jail for stealing jewellery that they hid inside date dough.

Four of them were arrested at Dubai International Airport while trying to flee with the stolen items, while the other two were arrested in Sharjah.

Police were aware of several burglaries in villas across Dubai, with the last report made on December 11 last year by an Emirati who returned to his home in Al Barsha to find the place in a mess and valuable items missing.

After investigations, a CID team connected six Sri Lankan men to the crimes.

“We found a lot of jewellery items hidden inside date dough they had with them as they tried to flee from Dubai airport,” said an Emirati police officer, 26.

The men confessed to stealing from villas after distributing fake brochures and then checking a week later to see if the brochures had been picked up or remained in place.

“They did so to check if the owners of the villa were in the house or away, so they could carry on with their scheme,” the officer said.

The men stole jewellery, money and smart gadgets from the Al Barsha villa. They confessed to police that they had carried out numerous other burglaries and would leave the country afterwards then return for more.

The men, aged between 26 and 40, denied charges of armed robbery, forming a gang, damaging property and trespassing at Dubai criminal and appeals courts.

But all were convicted and will be deported after serving their jail terms.