DUBAI // The three men and a woman suspected of stealing diamonds worth $1.4 million (Dh5.1m) from a jewellery show in Mumbai on Monday were being extradited to India from Dubai last night. The four, thought to be professional gem theives, were arrested at Dubai airport just hours after the theft of the 887 carats of diamonds. Diplomatic efforts have been under way since the arrests to send them back to Mumbai. A Mumbai police team was expected to arrive in Dubai yesterday to escort the group back along with the gems.
"We are currently completing their papers and hopefully they will be transferred back to India," said Major Gen Khamis al Mazeina, the Dubai deputy police chief. Elvia Grissel Guerrero Lugo, 24, Mauricio Gonzalez Maldonado, 24, Elias Campos Molan, 39, all from Mexico, and Orlando Gutierez, of Venezuela, are alleged to have walked out of the Indian International Jewellery Show on Monday with the stolen diamonds after distracting sales staff. They then boarded an Emirates Airline flight destined for Hamburg that included a stop in Dubai.
"We have communicated with the Dubai police and all four will be deported tonight," Himanshu Roy, Mumbai's joint commissioner of police for law and order, said yesterday. Closed-circuit television footage is said to have showed the group taking the gems from a stall at the show belonging to the Israeli company Dalumi Group. Three men could be seen distracting the booth's attendant while a woman picked up a box of diamonds, put it in her handbag and walked towards the main exit.
The group left the exhibition hall without being stopped by security guards. They then drove to Mumbai's international airport, about 20 minutes from the show venue. The attendant discovered the robbery soon after the suspects left the hall and informed the show's organisers, who called police, closed all gates and searched everyone in the ground. An Interpol alert was immediately issued by Indian authorities. Dubai airport security officials were informed of the robbery and were on the lookout for the suspects, who were arrested immediately after they landed, within 24 hours of the robbery.
The jewellery show, which opened in Mumbai on August 19 and ended on Monday, is the third-largest of its kind in the world.
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