After a search of several weeks, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) here arrested a gang that used to rob limousine drivers of their money, valuables and cars. The gang used to focus their activity in downtown districts which reported an increased incidents of theft and the mugging of motorists. A limousine driver reported to the police that a youth asked to be taken to one of the narrow alleys in Al-Kandarah District on the pretext of picking up his family comprising a number of women who were unable to walk to the main street. The driver followed the youth's directions only to find himself trapped in a dark cul-de-sac. Suddenly three other young men surrounded the vehicle, pulled the driver out of the limousine and beat him up. They then took his wallet and mobile telephone, and sped away in his vehicle. In his report, the driver said the young men's descriptions were similar to those registered in similar criminal incidents. A team of CID men in Al-Kandarah District moved quickly to look for the alleged culprits, with one of the CID men disguised as a limousine driver. The security team was able to monitor the movements of one of the suspects, who pretended to be waiting for a taxi on the roadside. He stopped an approaching limousine, and got into it. What he did not know was that the driver was a plainclothes security man. The passenger requested the driver to take him immediately into the narrow streets of the district to pick up the other members of his family. Meanwhile, the CID security team followed the limousine, and the moment the thieves surrounded the limousine driver to beat him up and rob him of his money and car, the security personnel took them by surprise and arrested them. Under questioning the thieves admitted carrying out previous thefts and robberies using the same method. Col. Misfer Al-Je'aid, spokesperson of Jeddah Police, pointed out that the people being held were still being investigated to uncover all the crimes they had committed. Al-Je'aid warned against dealing with overstayers and iqama violators and stressed the necessity to cooperate with the security authorities to uncover such criminal practices.
