Dubai: Less than 24 hours after a Ferrari was stolen from a hotel in the Palm Jumeirah, the car worth Dh1.2 million was recoeverd by police, an official said on Sunday.
Major-General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in Chief of Dubai Police for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said the police received a call from the owner of the Ferrari 458 about the theft from the hotel parking on October 13.
“The European owner said he was in the hotel and parked his car in the underground parking from where it was stolen. We launched a search hunt operation and arrested the gang and recovered the green Ferrari in less than 24 hours,” Maj-Gen Al Mansouri told Gulf News.
A gang of four men, including three Europeans and an African, stole the car and sent it to a garage in a neighbouring emirate where they planned to dismantle the vehicle into pieces and ship the spare parts to another country.
“The car was stolen by two European men and then they handed it to a third European who was the middle man. He sold the car for $55,000 (Dh200,000) to the African suspect. The car is worth Dh1.2 million and the African man took it to a garage to have the vehicle dismantled,” Maj-Gen Al Mansouri said.
The car was missing for one day before the owner alerted the police. The police looked into CCTV footage and tracked the path of the car before identifying the suspects. “We arrested the three European men in Dubai and nabbed the African man at the garage. We recovered the car before it was dismantled. The car has been returned to the owner.”
The four suspects have been referred to Dubai Public prosecution.
The African suspect was a resident in the country while the three European men came to UAE on visit visas.
“We have the ability crack down on car robberies and can get to the suspects in no time. Dubai is a safe city and this is part of our job to ensure security and make tourists and residents feel safe in the city,” Al Mansouri added.
