Dubai Police bust begging ring, arrest 41 from hotel

DUBAI: The police have arrested here 41 people involved in a begging operation and recovered more than Dh60,000.

The individuals, of Arab nationalities, were using a hotel as a base for their begging activities, the police said, The Gulf News reported.

The arrests were part of a targeted security operation codenamed Al-Misbah (Arabic for “prayer bead”), carried out by the Department of Suspects and Criminal Phenomena at the General Department of Criminal Investigation.The suspects had entered the UAE on visit visas, the police added.

In coordination with the hotel management, 28 suspects of the same nationality were arrested. The following day, 10 more were apprehended as they attempted to leave the hotel.

All admitted to operating as an organised group for begging and were referred to the relevant authorities for legal action.