JEDDAH, 21 March 2006 — An African gang wanted for murder was arrested yesterday morning in south Jeddah.
The five-member gang, four men and a woman, was responsible for a number of robberies in south Jeddah and were also wanted for murder, police officials said.
According to police, on Thursday night three members of the Nigerian gang broke into a house that belonged to a Nigerian couple in the Karantina district. They stole both goods and cash. Before fleeing, they tied the couple up and strapped tape across their mouths. The man died of suffocation while his wife survived, said a police source.
The victim’s house was used as an illegal in-door restaurant and the gang members recognized it as a potential score. A source explained, “The woman’s role in the gang was to pinpoint potential targets.”
Police started a citywide manhunt for the suspects after the dead man’s wife gave a full description of them. A team from the Search and Investigation Department headed by Maj. Abdul Rahman Al-Malki and Capt. Hashim Al-Shekhi were in charge of the operation. Brig. Misfer Al-Zuhami, the chief of Jeddah police, was in charge of the manhunt.
Forty-eight hours after the search began, police apprehended one of the suspects in the same area where the crime had taken place. He was taken to the police station where the victim’s wife identified him. The source said that the police found a cell-phone belonging to the dead man with the suspect. The suspect led police to other gang members who were arrested yesterday morning. Three are being charged with murder and the fourth, who was not involved in the murder, said women were part of the organized gang and helped in identifying vulnerable homes.
Police are still searching for additional gang members.
