Five South American suspects detained over theft of JD100,000

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of five South Americans who reportedly stole JD100,000 from a Jordanian in the capital’s Shmeisani area a day earlier, according to a statement released by the Public Security Department (PSD).

The five suspects were arrested in Aqaba shortly before attempting to flee to a neighbouring country, the PSD statement said.

“A specialised police force followed the suspects’ trail to Aqaba and arrested them in one of the hotels there,” the statement added.

The victim had complained to police that he withdrew JD100,000 from an exchange shop in Shmeisani, drove to an eastern suburb of Amman, left the amount in his car and went to pray, according to the PSD.

“When the citizen returned to his vehicle he found one of the windows broken and the cash missing,” the PSD statement said.

The Criminal Investigation Department in Amman formed a team to look into the incident and their investigation led them to Aqaba.

“The suspects monitored the victim and followed him with a rented car until they felt it was the right time to steal the money and they did,” the statement added.

Police retrieved most of the stolen cash and returned it to the citizen, the PSD said.

“Police also found several wigs and other articles of clothing meant to be used as disguises, in their hotel room, in addition to various currencies totalling JD50,000, as well as fake passports and identification cards,” the statement added.

The PSD urged the public to be extra vigilant when withdrawing large amounts of cash from banks and currency exchange shops and to refrain from leaving valuable items in their vehicles.