Dubai police bust gang of ‘beggar’ robbers
An African gang specialising in robbing villas posed as beggars to disguise themselves and scout potential targets, a top Dubai Police official told this website.
The gang burgled four villas in Dubai - one in Jumeirah, two in Al Qusais and one in Mirdif - stealing jewellery worth millions of dirhams, as well as many electronic items.
Brigadier Khalil Al Mansouri, Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department of Dubai Police, said that the African gang of six men wore old and dirty kandouras and would knock on the doors of villas during Ramadan, a few minutes before iftar.
“They targeted young local couples who, as is the local custom, would go to their parents’ home to break their fast. If nobody answered when they knocked they would break into the villa. If someone opened the door, then they would pretend to be beggars and ask for food,” Brigadier Mansouri said.
He pointed out that many residents in the targeted areas spotted these ‘beggars’ and said they looked suspicious, but did not report them to the police as they said they did not want to harm beggars during Ramadan.
Major General Khamees Al Mozainah, Acting Chief of Dubai Police, said, “When we held a campaign to fight begging during Ramadan, the main aim of the campaign was not to fight begging, per se, but to fight the cover it provided to many criminals to commit crimes.”
Lt. Col. Ahmed Al Marri said, “We formed a special team and received a tip from the Central Jail which said that six African men came to visit an African prisoner from Tanzania who was arrested in January for robbing villas during the day using the same modus operandi. We traced their information from the Central Jail and found out that they rented a flat in Naif and they were in the country on a visit visa. We busted the flat and arrested them.”
Lt. Col. Al Marri added that they found jewellery and electronics in the flat. “We took their finger prints, and found out that they also robbed a villa in a neighboring emirate. We called the victims, and they identified their belongings. We referred the men to the Public Prosecution for further investigations.”