Dubai cops unravel 8-year operation Pink Panther

Dubai - Lack of an extradition agreement between the UAE and Monaco prevented earlier arrest of Borko Ilincic.

It was sheer determination and persistence on the part of the Dubai Police that led to the arrest of the fourth suspect of the infamous 'Pink Panther gang' involved in a daring Dh14.7 million heist at Wafi Mall in 2007.
The police had announced the arrest on October 15.
Unveiling details at a Press conference on Monday, the police said the 34-year-old Serbian suspect, Borko Ilincic, could have faced justice in Dubai much earlier, but lack of an extradition agreement between the UAE and Monaco prevented this.
In the April 15, 2007 robbery, the group of six armed robbers drove two stolen Audi A8s through the glass façade at the mall before stopping at the House of Graff and making their getaway with stolen diamonds in front of stunned shoppers. The heist was carried out in less than a minute. The robbers set the getaway cars on fire on a stretch of desert less than a kilometre away.
"After eluding justice for eight years, we caught the fourth member of the Pink Panther gang as promised," Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, said at the Press conference on Monday.
He said Illincic was arrested early last year in Alcala de Henares, Spain. He was using a false name and fraudulent Bosnian passport. Based on the DNA evidence the Dubai Police submitted, it was established that this suspect was Illincic, said Al Mazeina.
The police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) received Illincic on October 14.
Illincic had earlier been arrested in Monaco, but when Dubai requested his extradition, the authorities there refused. He was deported to Serbia. The police continued following up on the suspect and found he travelled to Madrid, Spain.
After the heist, two suspects, both Serbian nationals, were apprehended within weeks of the robbery, while a third was arrested last year in Alcala de Henares.
The first suspect, Nicola Milat, 33, a Serbian company proprietor, was sentenced to a 10-year jail term for aiding and abetting the robbery. He was deported in 2013.
"The second suspect, Milan Mitlic, 52, a Serbian visitor, walked free as the court acquitted him of the charge of possession of stolen items. The third, Martin Sofboda, was extradited to the UAE from the Netherlands," said Al Mazeina.
Interpol Red Notices have been issued for the other two suspects, Nicolas Zivkovic and Bojana Mitic.
amira@khaleejtimes.com
 
12 DNA samples that helped nab the suspects
According to Dubai Police chief Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, the Dubai Police submitted 12 DNA samples to the Interpol, which assisted in the arrest of the suspects. These suspects were also involved in armed robberies in Tokyo and Liechtenstein.
Since 2007, the police here have held several meetings with the Interpol in Germany, Spain, France, Monaco, Switzerland and Austria to investigate the Wafi Mall heist.
amira@khaleejtimes.com

Dubai Police thank Shaikh Saif
Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina thanked Lt.-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, for his confidence in the Dubai Police.
Al Mazeina said Lt.-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of the Dubai Police and General Security, gives special attention to maintaining the levels of security and safety achieved by the Ministry of Interior in the quest to make Dubai one of the best cities in the world in terms of safety and security.
"We at the Dubai Police ... shall maintain the highest levels of perseverance and commitment to crime prevention. Dubai Police are keen on fulfilling the UAE 2021 Vision to become one of the safest countries in the world," he said.
Al Mazeina thanked the international community for their confidence in the Dubai Police.
He quoted Ronald K. Noble, the Interpol former secretary-general, who said, "Interpol lauds Dubai Police work in unravelling the Pink Panther case. The Dubai Police investigation into the Wafi Centre heist has helped Interpol identify the methods of the international jewel thief gang, the Pink Panthers, which has carried out 90 daring robberies in Europe, the USA and Asia, including the Middle East, Serbia and Japan."
The Pink Panther gang has committed robberies worth over ?300 million around the world.