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29 March 2024

Dubai thieves strike gold, literally: Bag they stole had 28kg of gold worth Dh3.6 million

Published
By Eman Al Baik

Three Latin Americans allegedly followed a car from Dubai’s  Gold Souq to Deira City Centre, broke into it and stole a bag containing 28kg of gold jewellery worth Dh3.6 million, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

ZS told police that on August 7, the day of the incident, he got a call from his brother at around 7.30pm, asking him to pick up about 28kg of gold jewellery from a shop in the Gold Souq.

“Accompanied with my friend, I went and picked the jewellery, put it in a medium-sized blue bag and, after keeping the bag on the back seat of the car, we headed to Deira City Centre. I parked the car near the security centre, leaving the bag in the car. After half an hour in Deira City Centre, I got a call from one of the shops telling me that the car which was registered in the name of the shop had been burgled. I rushed to the car and found its rear door’s glass window was broken. The bag of gold was missing,” ZS testified.

“Reviewing camera footage, it was found out that the burglars had used a Toyota Corolla car which they had stopped near the victim’s vehicle, broke into it, stole the bag and left the scene. Police found out that the burglars’ vehicle was owned by rent-- car company in Abu Dhabi.

In cooperation with the company, JA, 28, Mexican, was arrested on the same night when he came to hand over the car. With the help of the company, the police also arrested JA, 28, Mexican. JA admitted to the crime and confessed about his accomplices JD, 38 and DA,34, both Peru nationals.

“We saw two men in the Gold Souq and one of them was carrying a bag which we expected to be containing gold. We followed them from the Gold Souq to where they stopped in the parking area of Deira City Centre. When they both entered the mall, we broke the glass of the car’s rear window and stole the bag. On our way back to Abu Dhabi, we opened the bag and found the gold. We took out the gold and threw away the bag and the screw driver used to break the glass on Sheikh Zayed Road. When we reached Abu Dhabi, I dropped  JD and DA near a shopping mall and then went to hand over the car to the rental firm,” said JA.

JA also told investigators that he and the other two accomplices had agreed to steal from wholesale traders in the Gold Souq after observing them and planning the operation. But when they saw the two men carrying a bag in the Gold Souq, they assumed that it contained gold jewellery, so they decided on the spot to follow them until they stopped in the parking area of Deira City Centre.

Police arrested JD, 38, and DA, 34, on the following two days from two different hotels in Dubai, accompanied by two women. Police confiscated from  JD a bag containing about 21kg of gold jewellery and from DA a bag with about 7kg of jewellery. The two women denied any knowledge about the gold and the theft. The victim recognised the jewellery and could identify DA whom he had noticed following him in the Gold Souq.

Criminal Evidences reported finger prints lifted from the victim’s car matched that of JA.

 The Court will reconvene.