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Women walk past members of Saudi security forces as they keep guard in Manfouha, southern Riyadh, in this November 14, 2013 file photo.

Riyadh police have captured 12 members of four gangs for allegedly stealing over SR5 million in cash, electronic devices, cars and prepaid phone cards in separate incidents.

The police said in a statement that detectives had been investigating one case since the beginning of June. They had started by making an inventory of all the stores broken into.

During the course of their investigation they managed to reduce the list of suspects to five unemployed adults in their twenties and thirties. The officers arrested the suspects after setting a trap for them.

During the interrogation, the suspects allegedly admitted to committing 91 crimes that included breaking into and robbing stores. They also allegedly admitted carrying out armed robbery in various parts of Riyadh. Around 57 of these crimes were registered in police reports.

Owners of 34 stores confirmed that their premises were broken into but said they did not report the incidents. The men allegedly stole SR148,000 in cash and goods worth SR50,000.

The police said that they also arrested two illegal Yemeni nationals for various crimes after keeping them under surveillance for a period. During their interrogation, the two allegedly admitted robbing 36 companies, factories and commercial stores in industrial cities south of Riyadh of cash, computers and smartphones.

The police allegedly matched their confessions with unsolved crimes. They allegedly stole SR300,000 in cash and goods worth SR100,000.

The police said they also arrested two other Yemeni nationals for allegedly breaking into 38 stores and companies and stealing SR580,000 worth of cash and goods.

The police also stated that they had cooperated with Interpol to capture three men in Hafr Al-Batin for allegedly stealing goods, including jewelry, worth over SR4 million from a Kuwaiti citizen.

The police are now investigating whether the 12 suspects could be linked to other unsolved crimes. The suspects would be charged with various offenses.

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