Dubai Police returns 6,040 lost items, including jewellery worth millions

Dubai: A phone call from Dubai Police is not one most tourists expect after returning home. For some, it has brought relief that a cherished possession thought to be lost forever had been found. 

For others, it has come as a complete surprise, with officers informing them they had misplaced an item they did not even realise was missing. 

In many cases, the conversation ends with another unexpected promise: the item will be delivered to their doorstep.

According to Emarat Al Youm, Dubai Police have recovered and returned valuables ranging from a necklace worth more than Dh2 million to a Rolex watch valued at Dh150,000, using a smart delivery service that allows owners to reclaim lost belongings without travelling back to Dubai.

The force says the initiative was introduced after officials recognised the difficulty many people faced collecting lost property, particularly visitors who had already left the emirate. Owners who receive a notification can now choose a delivery time and location through an online platform, allowing their belongings to be returned wherever they are.

First Lieutenant Reem Al Hosani, head of the Communications and Complaints Follow-up Section at Dubai Police's Lost and Found Department, said some of the most memorable moments came when people discovered their belongings had been recovered before they had even realised they were missing.

"We have contacted people who did not know they had lost anything," she said, adding that their reactions were often ones of disbelief and joy after learning their possessions were safe.

Over the past five years, Dubai Police have returned 6,040 lost items to their owners. Al Hosani said every item receives the same level of attention, regardless of its financial value, because sentimental worth can far exceed its price.

Among the cases she recalled was an old mobile phone containing no SIM card or identifying information. 

After extensive efforts to trace its owner, officers finally located him. Deeply moved, the man expressed his gratitude by writing a poem dedicated to the team, explaining that his poems were his most treasured possessions and the best way he could thank them.

Established in 2015, the Lost and Found Department has created a unified platform bringing together property recovered across Dubai, including hotels, shopping malls, airports and government entities. The system now links around 1,600 strategic partners and is also open to the public, allowing anyone who finds a lost item to register it online and help reunite it with its owner.

The department operates under UAE lost-property regulations, giving owners three months to claim recovered items before they may be auctioned under legal procedures. If sold, the proceeds are retained for three years, allowing owners to recover their value if they later come forward.

First Lieutenant Sami Al Houti, who has spent more than three decades handling lost property, said Dubai Police maintains dedicated high-security vaults for cash, jewellery and luxury watches, with specialised equipment used to examine and classify precious metals.

He recalled tracing the owner of a Rolex worth around Dh150,000 after she had returned to Eastern Europe and mistakenly believed she had lost the watch in a traffic accident involving her children. 

When officers contacted her, she initially refused to believe them because she thought the watch had disappeared after the crash.

In another case, officers reunited a Russian tourist with a watch valued at about Dh40,000 after following a trail that stretched beyond Dubai.

When local records yielded no results, the team contacted the retailer's international branches and eventually identified her purchase through a store in France, enabling the watch to be returned.

Al Houti said not all memorable recoveries involve expensive items. One man reported losing a coffee cup worth only a few dirhams because it carried deep personal significance, while another visitor from the Gulf flew to Dubai and returned home the same day simply to collect an item belonging to his wife, even though the cost of the journey exceeded the value of the object itself.

"Some belongings simply cannot be measured by their price," he said.