They say the most disturbing fact is these stolen goods easily reach the secondhand black market dominated by foreigners thanks to lax law enforcement.

Al-Riyadh daily reported on Saturday that the market for stolen items is flourishing. Stolen goods end up in secondhand outlets. Of particular concern are chop shops that dismantle stolen cars and sell their parts.

Buyers are often aware the items are stolen but purchase them regardless due to the markdown in price compared to legitimately acquired items.

Al-Riyadh  witnessed a jewelry shopkeeper in Jeddah who bought items from a man for 75 percent less than the items' real price. The shopkeeper did not ask for a photocopy of the seller's ID, which is required by  law on the sale of gold.

Sociologist Hassan Jaber told the newspaper that it is very easy to sell stolen goods in Saudi Arabia. “This results in rising rates of crimes such as theft, robbery and pick-pocketing in our society. This also gives an incentive for such criminals to form gangs for carrying out such crimes. They can easily dispose of their stolen goods at shops for used goods in collusion with foreigners working at these shops,” he said.

Jaber underlined the need for working out a set of rules and regulations to curb such crimes.

“These regulations should include provisions for preventing the sale of any used item without an invoice. The identity of the person who sells should also be recorded,” he said while stressing the need for carrying out a campaign to increase awareness among members of society in this regard. He also called for taking stringent action against all those involved in handling stolen goods.

Jaber drew attention to the lucrative business of stolen goods.

“Sometimes, pickpockets sell mobile handsets valued at SR2,000 for SR200. The salesman resells the item for  SR1,500, and thus gets a margin of profit amounting to more than SR1,000,” he said while noting that this situation contributed to rising rates of theft and pick-pocketing.

Jaber also called for introducing separate phone lines at each police station so that theft victims can immediately contact the authorities in the event of any such crimes.

Khaled Abu Rashed, an international arbitrator and legal consultant, underscored that such crimes can be curbed by stepping up of the monitoring of shops for used goods and scrap as well as car bodyshops in addition to verifying sources of goods displayed at these shops.

There should also be stringent measures against all those involved in such crimes in one way or the other, he said.

Anwar Oshqi, director of the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies, stressed the need for vigilance on the part of every citizen to put an end to this problem.

“There should not be any delay in informing police about any theft or pick-pocketing incident," he said. "The police should also swing into action whenever they receive any information about such crimes. This should be supplemented with strict field monitoring.”

He also said there should be coordination among the departments concerned as it is their joint responsibility to tackle this problem.

Oshqi said those departments that fail in discharging their responsibilities in this regard should be penalized.

On his part, Suleiman Al-Jomaie, a lawyer, called for reviewing commercial laws in the Kingdom.

Ehab Al-Suleimani, supervisor of Al-Suleimani Est. for Social Services, urged the authorities concerned to bring all the shops selling used goods and spare parts under the existing laws governing furnished apartments, rest houses and beach cabins.

“When a client wants to rent a furnished apartment or rest house, he must provide relevant personal details,” he noted.

Nawaf Al-Bouq, deputy spokesman of Jeddah police, said there are special police units who are entrusted to continuously monitor major markets and shopping centers to track down gangs of thieves and pickpockets.

“A large number of such criminals are nabbed immediately after the crime without giving them any chance to sell on the stolen goods or send them for shipment to their countries,” he said.