The Dubai Police successfully recovered a 9.33-carat blue diamond worth $20 million (Dh73 million; Php1 billion) stolen by a security guard from a Dubai-based company he worked in.
The police retrieved the diamond in Sri Lanka after it was smuggled out of UAE in a sports shoe box by a relative of the suspect.
The robbery happened on May 25 when the Asian guard, who works with the money transfer company, was able to open the vault containing the diamond after successfully breaking through three security gates.
The first gate required a key, the second gate had a manual secret code, while the last gate had an electronic code which changes regularly. The number of employees with access to each gate narrows down with each gate.
Following the near-impossible robbery, the police reviewed more than 8,600 hours of surveillance camera footages from different places and interviewed more than 120 people who could help with the case.
The developments in the case were closely monitored by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Lt. General H.H. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
The police eventually identified the suspect through artificial technology and was arrested in another emirate. During interrogation, the suspect said he was ready to return to his home country to make his dream of becoming a millionaire come true.
