Dubai: A gang of three men, who broke into a villa at Palm Jumeirah, went on trial before the Dubai Court of First Instance on charges of stealing valuables worth Dh219,000.
The men from Kyrgyzstan confessed that they came to Dubai to steal money and valuables from villas in the emirate.
According to official records, on February 2019, they went to Palm Jumeirah after midnight carrying tools that would come handy in carrying out their heist.
They broke into a villa [whose occupants were away] through the balcony where they found three safe deposit boxes in a room. They broke the safes and found valuables, including Rolex watches, worth Dh219,000. They fled from the country on the same day via Dubai airport.
The gang left the valuables in the custody of a woman, who is still at large, and coordinated with a 31-year-old man to collect the items from the woman and smuggle the items outside the UAE for a fee of $900 (Dh3,300).
A 43-year-old Indian driver testified that his employer had left the country to go to the UK and he himself had gone to India for a vacation.
“I received a call from my employer who told me that Dubai Police had called him about the robbery in the villa. I returned to the UAE after two days and entered the villa with the policemen. The place was in chaos and we saw the burglars had cracked open the safes and stolen valuable items,” the Indian driver went on record to say.
Dubai Police arrested the fourth defendant and recovered part of the stolen valuables.
“The defendant confessed that he met the woman and took the stolen items from her and was planning to smuggle them outside the country with the help of other women. He was providing logistical support to the three defendants by providing SIM cards, hiding the stolen items and [making plans ] to smuggle them outside the UAE,” said a 38-year-old Emirati policeman.
The three defendants were charged with breaking into the villa, committing burglary and damaging property.
The fourth defendant was charged with obtaining stolen items.
The next hearing is on August 4.
