Police briefing: Thieves targeting safes now

Thieves broke into five safes and stolen a large amount of money during the last 13 days or so, the Maldives Police Service has said.

Speaking at a Police briefing last Thursday, Inspector of Police Ahmed Mohamed said that thieves were targeting safes these days and that since 11 of June there have been five instances of robberies involving safe-cracking. He further said that they had arrested suspects believed to be responsible for two of the robberies.

Inspector Ahmed said that there had been a lull in safe-cracking crimes for a while but that it had resumed on the night of June 11 when thieves broke into the safe at the MTCC sawmill in Henveiru district and stole Rf42,000 in cash, some computers, and various other equipment. Then on 20th June, thieves broke into the Welfare Section building of the Health Ministry and stole a large amount of money from the safe there, and stealing Rf21,000 from the safe at the Finance Ministry the following night, Inspector Ahmed said.

In the fourth incident, thieves broke into the American Red Cross offices located on the fourth floor of Gaadhoo building on 26th June, and finally, on the night of June 30 thieves tried to break into the safe at the Plan Resort and Hotels Malé office, Police said. While the thieves had managed to break into the safe at American Red Cross, they hadn’t been that successful with the safe at Plan Resort and Hotels office. Police managed to arrest one of the thieves as they were trying to escape with the safe on a motorcycle.

Inspector Ahmed said that the thieves who had been trying to escape with the safe on the motorcycle had been captured by a Police patrol that night. However, the man who had been carrying the safe on the passenger seat of the motorcycle had managed to ditch the safe and escape arrest. Police said that they would reveal how much had been stolen from the safes later.

“By yesterday (Wednesday), we’ve managed to arrest three people who were involved in the attempted theft,” Inspector Ahmed said. “Since nothing was stolen from that safe we have now returned it to the owners.”

Police said that the three who had been arrested in connection to the attempted theft were Adam Ziyad, 20, of Maadhunin / Noonu atoll Velidhoo; Mohamed Shareef, 19; and a 17-year-old boy. Police did not reveal the addresses of the two latter suspects but said that all three of them had criminal records.

Police had also arrested one suspect believed to be involved in the break-in at American Red Cross. He is Ahmed Nasir, 24, of Annaarumaage / Seenu atoll Hithadhoo. Inspector Ahmed said that Nasir was now cooperating with the Police in the investigation and that they had enough evidence against him for a conviction. He further said that Nasir had been sentenced to six years in prison last January after being found guilty in a robbery case.

Inspector Ahmed said that these recent robberies all targeted safes and that even though those involved in the various robberies had no direct connection to each other, all used the same modus operandi.

“We advice those people who keep their money locked up in safes to be aware of this,” Inspector Ahmed said, adding that their investigation had uncovered similar robberies were planned for the future. He said that according to information they had received, there were around 80 convicted prisoners roaming about freely in Malé and that there was a high chance that they would make their move soon.