A thief specialising in stealing saffron

An Afghan man who had eluded Dubai’s police and dealers for more than a year was finally trapped and arrested after stealing saffron from local shops worth nearly Dhfour million, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The man, identified as AK, had disguised as a porter to carry out the midday and night burglaries that have involved 11 shops in Ras area since early 2011.

The man had stored the stolen stuff at his nearby house before selling it to other shops in the same area, according to police.

“He carried out his first operation in February last year,” said Brigadier Khalil Al Mansoori, director of the Dubai detective and criminal investigation department.

Quoted by Emirat Alyoum Arabic language daily, he said the defendant was arrested when he tried to sell some of the stuff to a police undercover this week.

Another police officer said the man confessed to stealing saffron, an expensive spice, for an Afghan paint dealer in that area.

“Police raided the shop of the other Afghan and arrested him….the thief confessed that he was carrying out the burglaries for that dealer,” said Lt Colonel Ahmed Al Marri, head of the criminal investigation section at the department.

“The thief said that he was entering targeted shops and stealing saffron very easily and without being stopped by any one…he admitted that he aborted operations at three shops given their strong surveillance systems.”

A costly search for honey

An Emirati man plunged down from a hill top in Fujeirah mountains while searching for natural honey but escaped with medium injuries.

The 50-year-old farmer was searching for bee hives on top of the hill in Jareef mountainous area in Dibba when he slipped and fell down.

Another Emirati man who happened to be passing through that area found the farmer and phoned Dibba police.

“He was found in a bad condition after suffering f rom medium injuries…he was taken to hospital for treatment," Alittihad daily said, quoting a police official. 

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