Drivers drugged... cars gone

An Asian man illegally staying in the UAE and an Arab accomplice resorted to a novel way to steal vehicles by drugging their drivers on the motorway. The cruel method did work before the two themselves fell prey to the police.

The trick involved hiring a pick-up by the 24-year-old Asian in the eastern oasis town of Al Ain to pick sheep from another emirate. On the way, the Asian told the driver to stop near a café to have tea together.

Trusting the man, the driver waited for him to emerge out of the café with two cups of tea. He then started gulping the tea, not realizing it was drugged.

Once the driver fell asleep, the Asian lifted him out of the pick-up, put him on the chair outside the café, got into the vehicle and drove away.

The trick worked perfectly with two other drivers. When the third one had the drugged tea and went to pray in the nearby mosque, he was awaken hours later by the preacher, who was worried about his long sleep.

Realizing that he was a victim of a burglary, the driver phoned the police, who mounted an investigation after receiving two similar reports.

“Besides the pick-ups, the Asian stole the drivers’ mobile phones and money…we later managed to locate that thief and arrest him,” said Brigadier Hamad Al Amimi, director of Al Ain police.

“He confessed to the thefts and guided police to his Arab accomplice, whose role was to smuggle the vehicles outside the UAE,” he told local newspapers.
 

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