Mobile shops raided for late night work

Detectives burst out of their cars to swoop on mobile phone shops in the largest cellular phone market in Abu Dhabi in a late night surprise raid against violators of a midnight closure deadline, dealers said on Wednesday.

The detectives arrived just around 10 minutes after mid night and found several mobile phone shops still open in defiance of a previous notice that they should shut before mid night, the shop owners said.

They seized the passports of all late night workers and told them to go to the police after the Eid Al Adha holiday on Sunday.

“They got my passport and told me that I must go to the police department on Sunday to get it back,” said a shopowner. “I think they will make us write a statement pledging not to work after midnight or we will be fined.”

Detectives and other law enforcers have frequently raided the mobile phone market on Defence Road for fake products and other offences but Monday’s swoop was the first against violators of the midnight deadline.

Security sources said they would not allow mobile phone shops to do business after mid night following a surge in burglaries in that market.

“This raid was for security reasons…I think opening until 12 midnight is more than enough for them…we don’t see why they should stay open after that time,” said a security source, who requested anonymity.

More than 100 mobile phone shops operate on Defence Road, the largest cellular handset market in the Capital and the main second-hand mobile phone shopping centre in the region.

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