Officer jailed for stealing from disguised policeman

DUBAI // A policeman will spend two years in jail for stealing money from a criminal suspect who was an undercover officer.

The Yemeni national was arrested when he was found to have taken Dh100 from the officer and suspected bootleggers when they were caught in November last year.

The 24-year-old denied a charge of theft when he appeared at Dubai Criminal Court in January.

“His duties include searching apprehended suspects then sending them to the police station. On one occasion, one of the suspects was in fact an undercover police officer who reported him for stealing Dh100 from him and other suspects,” said an Emirati policeman, 39.

The officer said the incident happened at 9pm on November 21 last year.

“We had taken pictures of the money that was given to the undercover policeman and, when he told us the defendant stole from him, we found the missing Dh100 note with the suspected officer,” the investigating officer said.

He said he questioned the officer, who confessed that he had stolen from other suspects before.

“He told me this was not the first time and that, just recently, he stole from three men arrested for entering the country illegally,” the officer said.

He was fined Dh5,000 and will be deported after serving his prison term.