JEDDAH, 1 June — Riyadh police have dealt a blow to car thieves in the wake of increased automobile thefts across the Kingdom.
Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Shahrani, director of Riyadh police, announced on Monday the arrest of a five-member gang of car lifters. “The gang members have confessed to the crime. They will be transferred to judicial authorities for punitive action,” he told reporters.
The growing number of car thefts has become a major challenge to Saudi security authorities who make all-out efforts to track down the criminals.
According to official statistics published by Riyadh police, 3,341 car thefts took place in the capital city in a single year. The statistics, carried by Al-Jazirah Arabic newspaper, showed that a total of 19,149 cars were stolen in Riyadh in 10 years from 1988.
A study conducted by the daily showed that Camrys and Cressidas topped the list of stolen cars. The police report said the number of car thefts throughout the Kingdom increased by 185.5 percent, from 2,787 in 1988 to 7,957 in 1998.
Narrating a case, Obeid Al-Awad, a Saudi said he found his car missing one morning. “That day, instead of going to office I went to the police station to report the incident,” he said. It took more than a week for Al-Awad to get back his car.
“Luckily, I found my car safe. They had not taken anything from it,” he added.
Badr Al-Shammary has another story to say. He lost his Cressida car when he parked it in front of a hospital where he had gone to visit a friend. “When I came back from the hospital I did not find the car,” he said.
The police later found his car in Riyadh’s Al-Manfouha district. “Its condition was very bad. They had broken its glasses. The engine was not working properly,” he said, adding that police still could not get hold of the man who had stolen his car.
Musaed Al-Salman says he got back his stolen car after two weeks of search by police. “I found the car without any tires. It was completely ripped off. As far as I know, the police have not yet arrested the culprit.”
Ahmad Shadeed says his Honda car was stolen mainly because of his own negligence. He had left the car with its engine on in front of a shop. “When I returned from the shop I found somebody driving my car. I tried to stop him and held on to the car. But he kept on driving, dragging me for a long distance. In the end I fell down.
“Luckily, a patrol police saw me falling off the car. He drove behind the stolen car and arrested the man when he stopped at a traffic light,” he added.
Aid Al-Shamlani spoke about the growing number of car theft cases. “The car of my relative was stolen recently. He found the car abandoned in a street after about one month,” he said, adding that the thieves had taken all valuables in the car.
Shamlani also narrated an interesting incident. “Somebody took his friend’s car and returned it after six hours, leaving a note: ‘Thank you for allowing me to use your car for a trip. Your car is now in good condition and you don’t need to inform the police’.”
In a recent public lecture, Brig. Ali Al-Bishry, director of civil rights in Riyadh, referred to one of the major reasons for the growing number of car thefts: a large number of cars abandoned in streets.
“The thieves use the number plates of the abandoned cars on stolen cars to evade the police.”
The delay in informing police about the thefts also complicates the problem. “This enables the thief to flee with the stolen car,” Al-Bishry said.
Some people give incomplete information, making the search operation difficult and unsuccessful.
According to police reports, most cars were stolen either for joy rides or for smuggling drugs and weapons. Some take stolen cars to shops that sell used spare parts to make easy money.
“Stealing cars is seemingly a minor issue. But when the stolen cars are used for committing crimes such as smuggling of drugs and arms it becomes a big problem,” says Dr. Zuhair Hatab of the Arab Security Studies and Training Center in Riyadh.
Muhammad Farouk Abdul Hameed, a lecturer at Naif Academy for Security Sciences, considers car theft a dangerous crime. “It creates social, economic, security and psychological problems,” he added.
