Dubai Police foil international gang’s bid to steal and smuggle luxury vehicles

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Police have recently foiled an international criminal plot to steal and smuggle high-end cars outside the country using fake licence plates.

Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, the Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, lauded the team who skillfully utilized artificial intelligence technologies to arrest the suspects as they were trying to steal their first luxury car which is worth Dhs1.3 million.

“This is another great achievement added to the proud record of Dubai Police in ensuring the emirate's security and safety as well as preserving people's money and property,” he said.

Al Marri further praised the efforts of the search and investigation teams at the General Department of Criminal Investigation and the employees of the Criminal Analysis Centre for their swift action and follow-up on the report of the theft of the first car, which contributed to the speedy arrest of gang members who came to the state with an international criminal plot to steal and smuggle high-end cars outside the country.

Meanwhile, Major General Expert Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, affirmed that the arrest is characterised by high professionalism through the process of following up the report and monitoring the movements of the gang members over a period of several days, until setting the zero hour and raiding their criminals’ hideouts.

Al Mansoori also stressed the force’s keenness on enhancing the safety and security of citizens and residents.

Identifying the Suspects

Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jalaf, Director of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Dubai Police, confirmed that the gang members were arrested after the Command and Control Centre had received a tip-off from a car rental office claiming a suspect theft of a Lamborghini car, valued at AED 1.3 million, which was rented to an Eastern-European person.

The car seized by Dubai Police.

He pointed out that they had immediately formed a joint team from the Criminal Analysis Centre and the Criminal Investigation Department in order to speed up the search and arrest efforts of those involved in the theft.

“The investigation team was able to determine the car location despite the gang members' use of modern techniques to conceal its whereabouts and prevent inference of its location,” Al Jalaf said.

The director of CID said they determined the suspects’ identities and closely monitored their movements and activities before they located their place of residence, “All suspects hold the same Eastern European nationality,” "they took a residential place in a luxury area as a criminal base for their plot,” Al Jalaf revealed.

The Raid

Colonel Adel Al-Joker, Acting Director of CID, said they planned the raid and set the zero hour upon determining the suspects hideouts in a luxury residence. “Our teams professionally took down the four suspects and seized some forged car plates and forging tools at their residence,” he said.

Al Joker stated that the perpetrators admitted to sending one of them to rent a luxury car from the rental office and then hand the vehicle over to them to initiate the smuggling plot.

“They planned to smuggle the car professionally outside the country using the forged plates they had prepared,” he explained.