RIYADH, 10 January 2007 — A 23-year-old Saudi man involved in more than 26 car thefts has been arrested in the capital city after receiving a rash of complaints of cars going missing in the middle of the night.

Undercover police began monitoring the area where the thefts occurred until they apprehended this suspect on Saturday.

Police said they were on the lookout for a gang of car thieves that mainly targets car rental companies. According to the police, the gang tends to use a chemical substance to smash car windows and then steal accessories and parts, causing huge losses to the companies.

Car rental companies in Riyadh and Jeddah say they incur up to SR20 million in annual losses due to car thefts.

Sultan Al-Subaie, owner of a rental company that has branches in both Riyadh and Jeddah, said the police have informed all rental companies about the gang and that in spite of forensic checking of fingerprints the authorities have been unable to catch any member of the gang.

“The security forces say that the gang is a professional one. They say they are pursuing every possible way of stopping these criminals,” said Al-Subaie, who added that cars belonging to rental companies are usually targeted after office hours.

“Usually what happens is that two people come in a car, one stays in the car observing the area while the other leaves a chemical substance on the car windows. The two then sit in their car while the chemical breaks the car windows,” he said.

“When they are sure that no one is looking, one of the two goes back to the car and takes whatever valuables he can get hold of including ID documents and licenses. Most of the times they go for the car stereo, which can be sold for as much as SR3,500,” Al-Subaie added.

Salih Al-Shihri, owner of another car rental company, said that the gang sells the car accessories to well-known high street stores.

“The gang goes to these stores and sells them the stereos for anything between SR200 and SR300. They also sell the wheels and other parts including doors. It is important to protect this sector from criminals,” he said.

There are 550 car rental companies that have invested SR5.5 million in the sector and each company has between 100 and 500 cars.

Al-Shihri added that rental companies heavily rely on the police to protect their property. “Storeowners also try their best to ensure security for their cars, something that gets much harder when the stores are located in isolated areas,” he added.

According to retired Gen. Ibraheem ibn Abdullah Asiri, there is a relation between the increase in crimes in the Kingdom and the increase in the number of overstayers and undocumented migrants.

“It is not enough for the police to just document crimes and investigate fingerprints. What is important is to highlight the number of illegal migrants in the country,” Asiri said, adding that the authorities should collect information about every person who is entering the Kingdom and should also ensure that the person does not have a criminal record. “This information is vital for security purposes,” he said.

Asiri also believes that the Saudi government needs to develop new ways of increasing security and preventing crimes from taking place.

Basim Barudi, a technical engineer at a rental company, said that there are new car security alarms available.

“By using such alarms it would be impossible for anyone except the owner to use a car,” said Barudi, adding that there are certain types of windows that cannot be smashed.