Man on trial for car theft from Jebel Ali port

dubai — A 31-year-old Emirati man, who was a security officer at the Jebel Ali Port when he allegedly stole four 4WD cars, together with nine accomplices, has been charged with breach of trust and theft at a Dubai court.

The man, who was a manager-in-charge of security in the freezone and the port allegedly abused his post and stole the cars, worth Dh630,000, with the help of several accomplices, including seven Egyptians (aged between 23 and 55), his 33-year-old brother and a Jordanian runaway.

They have been charged at the Court of First Instance with theft and criminal complicity. The theft took place between November 9 and 10, 2017.

According to court documents, the defendants transported the cars in a recovery pick-up trucks to Ajman where they hid them in a warehouse.

A security guard hired by the enterprise reported the incident. “We set up a task force and reliable sources tipped us off that there was an Arab gang of nine persons involved in the car theft,” a police lieutenant told the prosecutor.

Around 1am on November 15, 2017, one of the main Egyptian accomplices was nabbed near the Silicon Oasis area and taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He confessed the gang’s plan, masterminded by an Egyptian accused, was to steal expensive cars and sell them later and split the cash. Around 2am on the same day, the police apprehended another accomplice in Freej Al Murar and took him to the CID where he confessed he was a member of the gang behind the theft.

The trial has been postponed to May 20.