Another Wafi Mall heist suspect held

Dubai - More details of the arrest will be released at a Press conference on Sunday.

A fourth suspect wanted for his involvement in a Dh14.7 million heist at Dubai's Wafi Mall in 2007 has been apprehended, the Dubai Police announced on Thursday.
In the April 15, 2007 robbery, a group of armed robbers drove two stolen Audi A8s through the glass façade at the mall before stopping at the House of Graff and decamped with stolen diamonds in front of stunned shoppers - all in less than a minute.
In a Tweet on its official account, the Dubai Police said they had "all resources and facilities to make the mission of the Task Force a success. That concluded with the arrest of the fourth subject in the referred case."
In another Tweet, the Dubai Police thanked Lt-Gen Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, for his help in making the arrest.
More details of the arrest will be released at a Press conference on Sunday.
Two suspects, both Serbian nationals, were apprehended within weeks of the robbery, while a third was captured last year in the Spanish city of Alcala de Henares.
In 2008, the Criminal Court of First Instance upheld the 10-year jail sentence of one of the suspects, Nicolas Milat Slobolden.
All the suspects are thought to be members of the notorious "Pink Panthers" gang, which law enforcement officers believe was also responsible for a series of heists across the Middle East, Europe and Japan.
A 2013 film documentary entitled "Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers" chronicles some of the gang's exploits and the efforts of law enforcement agencies - including Dubai Police - to bring them to justice.
According to Interpol, the Pink Panthers are a loosely organised band of approximately 800 criminals, many of them from the former Yugoslavia, that has operated since 1999. In total, members of the gang are suspected of involvement in over 380 cases of robbery and aggravated theft in 35 countries.
The gang earned its moniker following a robbery in the upscale Mayfair area of London, in which the thieves hid a diamond inside a jar of face cream - an event which closely resembled the plot of the 1963 film "The Pink Panther".
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai