Dh970,000 exchange robbery gang busted

abu dhabi — The Abu Dhabi Police have busted a gang called ‘Dark Sky’ which carried out a daring Dh970,000 robbery at a money exchange office in Mussafah.

The gang consisted of six Africans aged between 30 and 35 years. The police have recovered the stolen amount and the gang members have been referred to the public prosecution.

Brigadier General Dr. Rashid Bu Rasheed, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, said that the initial investigation rev-ealed that the gang committed the robbery using iron tools, interrupting the exchange staff during their official working hours, when they were in the process of transferring funds in special vehicles meant for the purpose.

The police further learnt that the gang had been closely monitoring the money transferring activity at the exchange for the past few days, timed their arrival accordingly, forced the employees to hand over the money from the vans to them and escaped using a rental car hired from another emirate with forged documents.

Working together with the Dubai and Sharjah police departments, the Abu Dhabi Police arrested the gang and took them into custody, recovering the money immediately. During the police interrogation, the gang members said they got rid of some phones and calling cards, throwing it away at the crime scene in order to distract and mislead the investigation process. The dial-up cards were registered in the names of people living outside the UAE.

The gang also changed vehicles to confuse the police, discarding the vehicle they used to make their getaway from the money exchange in another emirate, and then using another vehicle to reach Sharjah.

Brig Bu Rasheed praised the competent authorities of the Dubai and Sharjah Police departments for their cooperation — and the investigation and follow-up by Abu Dhabi Police — which led to the arrest of the perpetrators in record time, reflecting the efficiency and framework of integrated security work in the UAE. Whatever sophisticated and complex crime methods are used by criminal gangs, the police stated that they have the ability to bring them to justice, using the latest investigative expertise required to track down criminals.