Two Africans in exchange house heist identified with DNA tests
Two of the five Africans arrested in connection with the Dh2 million heist at an exchange house in March this year were identified thanks to DNA matches conducted by the Sharjah Police Forensic Laboratory, top officials said on Monday.
Speaking to the press on a tour of the lab on Monday, Brigadier Ahmad Al Serkal, Director-General of the Sharjah Police Forensic Laboratory, said
this case was among the 164 crimes solved by the laboratory by finding matches from 6,412 DNA imprints in its database,
On March 20 this year, five armed African men in their 20s stole currency worth over Dh2 million during a seven-minute heist at the Al Tauwain branch of Al Ansari Exchange close to midnight. The gang members subsequently spread themselves out in other emirates to escape notice. But a special police team traced their whereabouts, arrested one of them within 48 hours and manged tio catch up with the others in their hideouts in Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi soon after. Two of these gang members were identified with the help of DNA tests conducted on samples collected.
Brigadier Ahmad Al Serkal said the lab is working on further building the DNA database with information on detainees and criminals.
He said in cases of murder and rape, DNA tests help the police to identify suspects. The DNA tests have also offered proof of family kinship during parental and inheritance disputes referred by the courts.
“Many international experts have used the laboratory’s DNA results and findings for investigations,” he said, adding that a joint cooperation between the Forensic Laboratory and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia had helped examine sample DNAs of 67 human remains from the time of World War II.
He said the lab housed an advanced mitochondria DNA testing system — considered the most accurate and sophisticated in the field.
15,513 cases resolved
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