Plant theft ring busted by Sharjah police

A ring of serial plant thefts has been thwarted by the police in Sharjah, who set up a special unit to catch the criminals.

A gang in Sharjah are being held on suspicion of stealing heavy machinery in order to sell it abroad.

The group allegedly stole the machinery from various businesses around the emirate, only to dismantle them so that they could be exported as ‘spare parts’. The machines could presumably be reassembled at the destination.

Sharjah police formed a division of the Criminal Investigation Department to deal with the thefts, and as a result they apprehended the gang which included 15 suspects plus one accomplice.

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All apparently confessed, and have revealed the location of a great deal of the stolen plant.

“A great deal of effort and collaboration was made between Sharjah Police and other police forces in and out of the country, in order to apprehend the suspects. It took several weeks of investigation, which eventually led to their arrest,” a police official told a daily newspaper.

Sharjah ports see a higher amount of stolen property passing through than the UAE national average rate. Last year, we reported on a stolen skid-steer that was taken from a site in the UK. Several months later, it was found in Port Hamriyah, as a satellite tracking device came into range when the equipment was removed from a shipping container.