One Saudi was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,500 lashes, while the second was imprisoned for seven years in addition to 1,050 lashes. The Arab expatriate received a three-year jail term and 150 lashes, according to the police.

The stolen vehicles included luxury cars, sedans, trucks and heavy machinery.

The arrests followed a complaint of a theft of a Mercedes Benz car from a dairy farm in the Al-Manar district west of Riyadh. The complaint was lodged by authorities of the dairy farm with local police.

Observing a spate of such vehicle thefts from people and private sector firms, the police concluded the same group of criminals was responsible.

According to police, one of the Saudi defendants admitted that he was conducting this operation along with another citizen, while the expatriate helped to change the number plates of the stolen vehicles that were subsequently sold to unwary customers. The police said the trio confessed to the charges against them.