Police message to crooks: There’s no place to hide in Dubai
POLICE DELIVER STARK WARNING TO CRIMINALS
Dubai Police has one simple message for criminals – you can run but you can’t hide, at least not for long. In recent months Dubai Police have caught several internationally wanted criminals, including drug lords and mob bosses responsible for violent crimes. Here’s a lowdown on them.
The drug trafficker who ordered killings as they were cups of coffee
Billed as “the Netherland’s most dangerous man”, the Moroccan-born Dutch drug trafficker Ridouan Taghi was wanted in connection with a string of murders, including the assassination of a prosecution lawyer in the Netherlands. I
nvestigators claimed he ordered killings as if they were cups of coffee. Police teams from European countries were chasing Taghi for 10 years. However, it took Dubai Police just five days to arrest the 41-year-old fugitive who had sneaked into the UAE using a fake identity.
In fact, the mob boss was taken by surprise when a special unit of Dubai Police raided his luxury villa in December 2019. So much so that he expressed a grudging admiration for Dubai Police as he was being taken into custody.
“Dubai Police must be the best in the world,” he told Brigadier Jamal Al Jallaf, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The dreaded gang leader who evaded police for years
Head of one of the most dangerous international crime rings, Danish gang lord Amir Mekky was a close associate of Ridouan Taghi. He was wanted for murder, drug trafficking and money laundering. In Europe, he evaded arrest for several years as he used multiple passports to travel.
His reign of crime came to an end early this month when Dubai State Security nabbed him in a sting operation. Special forces from the State Security Service in Dubai monitored Mekky’s movements before raiding his residence around midnight on June 4 and taking him into custody.
The entire operation was
Dubai Police work tirelessly to keep our officers up-todate with latest technologies to tackle transnational organised crime.”
Lt Gen Abdullah Al Merri | Dubai Police chief
carried out despite movement restrictions during the coronavirus and in compliance with UAE law and in accordance with international legal standards.
Investigations revealed that Mekky had entered the UAE in November 2018 using a different passport.
Internet celebrity behind Dh1.6 billion online racket
Hushpuppi aka Raymond Abbas posed as a reputed businessman in Dubai and flaunted his extravagant lifestyle on Instagram where he has over two million followers. But an investigation by Dubai Police revealed that the Nigerian celebrity was allegedly part of a gang that hacked corporate emails and routed huge amounts of money to bank accounts which they controlled.
Hushpuppi was arrested with his accomplice Olalekan Jacob Ponle, aka Woodberry along with 10 other men earlier this month in a police operation called Fox Hunt 2. Besides Dh150 million in cash, the police also seized 13 luxury cars, valued at about Dh25m, 21 computers and 47 smartphones during the raid which involved six teams.
“As criminals constantly change their criminal methods, the Dubai Police work tirelessly to qualify elites of officers and employees specialised in facilitating the latest technologies to tackle emerging and transnational organised crime,” Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri, Commanderin-chief of Dubai Police said.