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.
