Umm Al Quwain: Members of a gang that specialised in stealing modern and luxury vehicles belonging to car rental offices in the UAE have been arrested by Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) Police.
Colonel Saeed Obaid bin Aran, Director of the Department of Criminal Investigation at UAQ Police, said that several reports were received from the owners of car rental companies, stating that a person had called and requested to take modern, luxury cars on rent and wanted them delivered in Umm Al Quwain. The employees of the car rental companies completed the documentation electronically, without cross-checking the data provided by the customer.
Col Bin Aran explained that upon receiving the complaints, search and investigation teams were formed, as the presence of a gang consisting of several people of Arab nationalities came to notice. These gang members had all called up the offices of various car rental companies and requested to take luxury cars on rent, using identity documents belonging to other people in order to avoid raising suspicion.
He stated that the gang members had received a number of these vehicles in Umm Al Quwain. They then disabled the tracking devices fitted in these vehicles, so that the movements of the vehicles could not be monitored by the rental companies.
Col Bin Aran said that investigations revealed that this gang was moving between the different emirates within the country. Their movements were monitored by the police and soon a number of these gang members were arrested in cooperation with the police commands in other emirates.
Upon interrogation, all the arrested persons confessed to the charges levelled against them. The vehicles and other items in their possession were seized and they were referred to the judicial authorities.
Col Bin Aran thanked the field work team that worked professionally in arresting the gang. He also appealed to the owners of car rental companies to carefully check the documents provided by their customers before renting out vehicles.
