The Dubai police have been successful in arresting a 10 member gang that reportedly relieved prospective BTC buyers of 7m AED (approximately $1.9m). Authorities reported using a state of the art AI technology to locate the suspects. It seems that the AI played a pivotal role in the timely arrest as it came in less than 48 hours after the report of the incident.
The victims of the heist reported to be two brothers of Asian descent, have been lured to meet the gang members in an empty office, where they have been threatened, assaulted and robbed at gunpoint. Police claim the gang possessed firearms and sharp objects. After tying the brothers and locking them up in the said office, the criminals then fled the scene. The robbery occurred in the Al Muraqabbat area of Dubai.
According to the Director of Criminal Investigation Department, Adel Al Joker, “The brothers searched randomly in the market to buy Bitcoin. The gang lured them claiming they can sell them Bitcoin.“ The brothers went to the police the very same day and were able to instantly recognize the group‘s leader, which led to him confessing and being taken into custody only 4 hours later. Within the next 48 hours, all remaining suspects were located and arrested. The money has since been returned to the victims.
Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, Major General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, praised the data analysis unit of the Dubai Police, saying that, “Using AI helped Dubai Police to arrest a Gulf National, who is the head of the gang, and other Asian suspects. The information from the data analysis center helped the officers to arrest all gang members.“ All suspects have remained in custody and await public prosecution for further investigation.
The Major also urged the crypto buyers to always use official channels when trying to acquire digital currency in order to avoid similar incidents in the future. Notably, crypto-related heists have been happening on a semi-regular basis, as similar incidents have happened in countries ranging from the United States to Russia, to Singapore.
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