Latin American tourists in Dh700,000 Dubai villa break-in

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced five visitors to five years each in jail for breaking into a villa and stealing jewellery and watches worth Dh700,000 and $18,000 in cash after destroying the CCTV.

The five Colombians - JD, 28; FA, 25; JA, 23; JP, 24 and CM, 22  - along with their two Sudanese accomplices, who received three years each, will be deported after serving their respective terms.

One of the Colombians had escaped to Oman and Dubai Police arrested him with the co-operation from Omani authorities.

They came into the country with the intent to steal and one of the suspects confessed that he was a member of a gang that broke into villas in different countries. He touched base with one of the Sudanese suspects to help arrange logistics for them to commit the crime. They used a forged British passport to rent a white Range Rover and drove to Dragon Mart and bought the required tools.

The Sudanese then drove the gang across several streets in Jumeirah, Al Safa and Rashidya areas to check out possible target villas. According to records the Colombian gang committed the crimes and handed over a share to the two accomplices for helping them.

The 42-year-old Emirati told investigating officials that he had left home at around 6.30pm and ensured that the villa’s door and the outside entrance door were locked. “I returned home at around 11.30pm and went up to my bedroom. I was shocked to find it in a mess. Then I checked out all the rooms and found my entire house was burgled. The CCTV system was destroyed and the remote control was missing. I discovered jewellery worth Dh450,000, watches worth Dh250,000 and a cash of $18,000 was also missing.”

The suspects had climbed over the fence and entered the villa from the children’s room on the ground floor, which was not closed. They then directly went into the CCTV control room and destroyed the system.

The Sudanese confessed to receiving two watches and some money, which they used to buy themselves iPhones.

Police confiscated the watches, iPhones and some jewellery. They have previous criminal records.

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