JEDDAH, 5 February 2005 — Police in Jeddah arrested a gang of criminals involved in robbery and rape in various districts of the city. The arrest took place on Thursday after police closely monitored the movements of the gang members and collected information about them.

Col. Muhammad Al-Maqati, director of criminal investigation, led the search for the criminals who recently burgled a villa of a prominent citizen and assaulted his maid.

According to Okaz daily, the gang members were African nationals and had been involved in a number of armed robberies and attack on individuals. The paper described the criminals as one of the most dangerous gangs arrested by police in three years.

Police have started questioning the criminals and located the goods they had robbed from houses and shops. The criminals acknowledged that they had burgled a posh villa in Al-Hamra district and taken away money and other valuables.