Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Jeddah Police has busted a gang of Chadians allegedly involved in about 25 recent theft cases. This is the third gang of the same nationality busted during the last ten days. The arrest of the gangsters came after Jeddah Police received several reports on thefts in Central Jeddah including Al-Naseem, Bani Malik and Al-Azizia districts. Descriptions provided by the victims were registered. Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Qahtani, Director of Jeddah Police, ordered the creation of a special team under the supervision of the Director of Criminal Investigations Department (CID). Information gathered from the victims and the nature of crimes helped in establishing that the evil work was being done by a gang of dark-skinned people. The gang, it was further revealed, used to carry out burglaries during the weekends and at times when families were away from their homes. Suspcion fell on a group of eight people — five of them juveniles and the rest in their teens. They were kept under surveillance and were arrested soon after gathering at a designated place to burgle a house in Central Jeddah. Little did the gang members realize that they were closely being monitored by an alert police team which arrested all of them. The gangsters confessed to 25 burglaries of homes, several car thefts and snatching of women's handbags.
They also confessed to many burglaries which were not reported to the police by house owners who thought it was futile to lodge a report. The gang members allegedly stole jewels from several districts. Jeddah Police spokesman First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq said their fingerprints are being matched with those lifted at scenes of similar crimes.
