Dubai Police retrieve Dh4 million worth of stolen goods from gang who robbed 20 villas

Dubai Police arrested three men and one woman who targeted empty houses in Dubai.

Dubai Police arrested three men and one woman for robbing more than 20 villas in Dubai, retrieving Dh4 million worth of stolen goods. September 2014. Photo Courtesy: Dubai Police

DUBAI // Dubai Police arrested three men and one woman for robbing more than 20 villas in Dubai, retrieving Dh4 million worth of stolen goods.

Dubai Police chief Maj Gen Khamis Al Muzeina said that the gang targeted houses in the Mirdiff, Jumeirah and Al Qouz areas, adding that two of the suspects have previous criminal records.

He said that the men, who were from GCC countries, hid the stolen merchandise in different areas, one of which was the woman’s house.

“They would rob villas, whose residents would be out of town since it was during the summer holidays,” said Maj Gen Al Muzeina. “They even had the audacity to steal car keys and use the residents’ vehicles to transport the stolen merchandise to their hiding spots and would then abandon the cars in a deserted area.”

Maj Gen Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri of Dubai’s Criminal Investigations Department said that the police received a number of complaints from residents claiming their houses had been robbed.

“The suspects would jump over the walls of the villas and break in through the main gates,” he said. “They would ransack the place and steal all the gold jewellery as well as cash.”

He said that that some of the stolen merchandise was returned to their owners, but there is a huge quantity that remains unclaimed.

“The owners of the leftover merchandise have most probably not been claimed because the owners are still abroad and have yet to realise they were robbed,” said Maj Gen Al Mansouri.

He urged those residing in villas to register with Dubai Police’s free security housing programme, which, he added, garauntees their houses do not get robbed or broken into.