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Cable thieves gang busted

ABU DHABI — With the arrest of 24 people of Asian nationalities recently, the Abu Dhabi Police claimed to have busted a gang involved in theft of electric cables from the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and in other emirates.

The operation was carried out under the directives of Minister of Interior Lt-Gen. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who took special interest in the case, said Brig. Mohamed Al Awadi Al Minhali, Director-General of Police Operations at the General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police. After receiving many reports of thefts in different areas of Abu Dhabi and other emirates, police teams were set up to monitor movements of the suspects. Eventually, all of them were arrested, he said.

During surveillance operations, the police first checked companies that had bought the stolen cables. This helped the investigators to establish the pattern of trading and identification of suspects.

The crackdown began with the arrest of one of the suspects who was attempting to flee the country through one of the airports. During questioning, he confessed his involvement in several thefts across the country and guided the police to the areas where the thefts had taken place and gave the names and addresses of his accomplices and collaborators in stealing and selling the stolen cables.

On his tip-off, the remaining members of the gang were arrested in raids carried out in various parts of the country. The arrested confessed carrying out over 100 thefts, the police said.