A gang of 11 men suspected of stealing nine luxury cars worth Dhs7 million from car rental firms in the UAE have been detained by police.
Abu Dhabi Police on Thursday said the men, three Emiratis who worked for a government department and eight other Arabs, were caught after police received complaints from rental car firms about a group of people who hired cars but never return them after the expiry of the lease period.
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The men had allegedly stolen expensive cars including a Lamborghini, Range Rover, Mercedes, Nissan Patrol and others.
Six of the cars were stolen from rental car firms in Abu Dhabi while three of the cars were stolen from Dubai.
Colonel Ahmed Saif Al Muhairi, director of Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Police said: “Following a tip-off from rental car firms, the CID department formed a team which immediately got into action and caught one person who had rented a car from one of the firms.
“And upon interrogation, the suspect revealed the names of others involved in the theft and they were all arrested.”
Major Misbah Katbi, head of Al Shabia Police Station said police investigations revealed that after hiring the cars from rental car firms, the suspects could take the cars to the Emirati men working in a government department who helped in forging customs documents.
“The men were changing two digits in the vehicle’s serial number before they issued a customs certificate for the car,” said Katbi.
The gang then exported the luxury cars as new ones using false documents. They then shared the revenue earned.
The group has been referred to the public prosecution.
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