DUBAI // Mobile phones, laptops, cameras and other valuables were among the thousands of items reported lost – and then found – at Dubai International Airport last year.
Police and airport staff recovered 5,544 bags, 469 items of jewellery, 9,131 mobile phones, 1,632 laptops, 3,825 tablets, 1,633 cameras, 6,279 watches and 2,781 other electronic devices along with 3,574 important or personal documents, among other goods.
Of the 106,206 items reported lost, 71,938 were returned to their owners. Any items that are not claimed after six months are sold at auction.
“We have an electronic service that people can use to file complaints about lost items,” said Brig Ali bin Lahej, director of the General Department of Airport Security at Dubai Police.
“We also have a smart service that allows us to categorise and store the items, so we can locate and deliver them to the owner as soon as possible.”
He said officers recorded about 40,000 reports last year, while more than 13,500 were made in the first five months of this year. There were also 1,969 incidents of cash being found last year, of which 230 were resolved.
But it is not only gadgets and personal items that are misplaced by their owners. Brig bin Lahej said one of the biggest cases, which happened several years ago, involved a well-known American actress who lost a ring worth more than Dh1.8 million.
“Her assistant contacted us via email and told us the celebrity lost her ring at Dubai International Airport,” Brig bin Lahej said. “We were able to immediately locate it in one of the bathrooms and send it back with a person to whom the actress had given clearance.”
Brig bin Lahej said officers provided safety and security to the millions of travellers who used the airport each year.
“Our main goal is to secure the planes, the travellers and their belongings,” he said. “We want to make sure everyone and everything leaving or transiting through the emirate is safe, because we are responsible for people and items leaving Dubai.
“We also want to make sure the travellers are content and satisfied with our services and the airports, which must be a reflection of the emirate and where travellers receive their first impression of Dubai.”
dmoukhallati@thenational.ae
