Diamonds heist case cracked

The police said that a request for the extradition of the third suspect had already been issued to the authorities of the concerned country.

It was the biggest heist in Dubai. According to the police, the value of the stolen diamonds was nearly Dh15 million.

The robbers had rammed their vehicles into the shop and decamped with the jewellery in just one minute and 45 seconds. They fled in two stolen cars used by the gang.

The arrests were announced by Dubai Police Chief, Lieutenant-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, during a Press conference at the Police Headquarters yesterday. Also present were Brigadier Khamis Mattar Al Mazina, Director of the General Department of Crime Investigation, and Colonel Ahmed Khalifa bin Hamad, Director of the General Department of Forensic Science.

Brig. Al Mazina said: 'Officers from Dubai Police have left for foreign countries which I will not name now, to question the third man and collect more data.'

'The diamonds stolen in the heist, which are worth nearly Dh15 million, have been returned to their rightful owners,' Lt-Gen. Dhahi said.

Disclosing the case details, Lt-Gen. Dhahi said the robbers had burnt one of the stolen cars they had used and drove away in another car to an abaya shop in Dubai where they bought abayas to cover themselves.

Lt-Gen. Dhahi further disclosed that the gang members had used toy guns in the robbery and that they had hidden the stolen jewellery in a rented car.

Six hours after the robbery, three of the gang members left Dubai for a European country. The rest remained in the emirate.

Among the two persons arrested by Dubai Police is one who had provided logistic support to the gang, including arranging for visa, accommodation, and the two stolen cars used in the heist, he added.

Lt-Gen. Dhahi said that CID officials, who were confident that the jewellery stolen in the heist was still in Dubai, had set traps to nab the gang before they could succeed in transporting the jewellery to another country.

One of the accused, who was referred to by their team as 'General Secretary', had come to the UAE for the first time. He was arrested on Saturday evening when he was about to get into one of the stolen cars used in the robbery, Lt. Gen. Dhahi disclosed.

The stolen jewellery was recovered from the car, he added.

The Dubai Police chief said that the gang members, all from Eastern Europe, had been allegedly using fake passports of dead persons killed in some of the recent conflicts in these countries. One of the accused possessed 14 fake passports, Lt-Gen. Dhahi disclosed, while refusing to divulge the exact number of gang members involved in the heist.