Dubai Four men were arrested and accused of being part of a large-scale car theft operation, the Criminal Investigation Department of Dubai (CID) said.

Two Afghan traders, one Indian driver and one Pakistani assistant are accused of  stealing brand new four-wheel drive vehicles since 2011 and exporting them to an Asian country to be sold.

The police said it was believed the gang of four had so far stolen 20 brand new cars including 12 last year and eight this year.

The CID said it was currently collaborating with Interpol to retrieve four containers, one in Iran and three in Afghanistan, said to hold the stolen cars, police official said.

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), said that there had been 12 reports of such stolen cars in 2011 and eight this year.

He added that late reporting of the theft hindered an earlier arrest of the culprits. The earliest theft report had been filed a week after the incident, he said.

Al Mansouri explained that the culprits targeted brand new unregistered Nissan Land Cruisers and Toyota Prados.

‘Small price to pay'

He said the stolen cars had been left in isolated areas of Al Muraqabat, Ras Al Khor and Al Qusais, where they were not under the scrutiny of police patrols.

He explained that the owners of these cars were leaving them there as they finished exporting procedures. He said that when asked as to why they did not leave the cars at the export company, the car owners said it was because they did not want to pay the daily space rental charge. "Space rental charges amounts to Dh50 a day, which is a small price to pay for the safety of their cars," he added.

Lt. Col Ahmad Humaid Al Merri, Director of the Criminal Investigations Division, said the Indian driver and his Pakistani assistant, who operated a tow truck, are residents of the UAE, would track down abandoned cars and tow them away to an unidentified area.

"The two Afghani traders, who would come to the UAE on business, would then buy the car from them.

"The Afghanis, who traded in used car motors, spare parts and scrap, used to put the stolen car at the back of a shipping container, put a fake wall, and then load the used parts in the front of the container, concealing the car as it left the country," he said.