Dubai: The gang of four arrested by Dubai police last week revealed that they stole 36 luxury vehicles from neighbouring emirates in addition to the 20 from Dubai.
A total of 51 cars were exported illegally and only five cars were recovered by the police, an official said yesterday.
Lt. Col Ahmad Humaid Al Merri, Director of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), said the CID had notified the neighbouring emirate's police about the gang's arrest so that they can initiate the investigation process.
Al Merri also revealed that five cars had been stolen and then recovered, and are awaiting the decision of the public prosecutor to be returned to their owners.
The five cars were found in containers that were packed and ready to be shipped out of the country. The cars were hidden in the back of various shipping containers behind a fake wall.
Charged
The CID is also collaborating with Interpol to retrieve four containers, one in Iran and three in Afghanistan, that are believed to contain stolen cars.
The two Afghan traders, one Indian driver and one Pakistani assistant have been detained on charges of stealing brand new four-wheel drive vehicles and exporting them to an Asian country for sale.
The gang stole only brand new four-wheel drives that had been left in obscure areas away from the police patrols' route.
The cars, Al Merri explained, were usually left there while their owners completed exporting formalities. He said that the owners did not leave the cars at the export company because they did not want to pay the daily space rental charge.
Al Merri said the culprits would break a window and then put the car in neutral gear and tow it away. He said this process takes two to three minutes.
