The Information Branch managed to track down a gang involved in theft of motorcycles and armed robbery in various areas of Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Videos of their operations have circulated on social media, documenting the mentioned crimes. As a result of intensive investigations, the branch identified their members, including the mastermind known as A. Q. (born in 1999, Lebanese), who has a criminal record involving theft, pickpocketing, drugs, and gunfire.
On June 28, 2024, after surveillance, one of the branch's patrols arrested him in a strategic operation in the Jnah area. A search yielded a military pistol with a magazine and 10 live rounds, tools used for stealing motorcycles, a white pill, a sum of money, and a mobile phone. Additionally, two stolen "JR" motorcycles without license plates were recovered, one black and the other white, which had been stolen from the Cola and Choueifat areas.
During the investigation, he confessed to his leadership of a gang that carried out hundreds of motorcycle thefts across many areas in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, including Barbari, Achrafieh, Hamra, Ramlet el-Bayda, Gemmayzeh, Corniche Mazraa, Jnah, Jounieh, Khaldeh, Bashamoun, Aramon, Choueifat, Hadath, Baabda, Habtour, and Metn, and selling them in Sabra. He also admitted to various armed robberies, including one where he stole a motorcycle from two individuals near the "BHV" after shooting at them.
Legal proceedings were initiated against him, and he was referred along with the seized items to the competent authority, with ongoing efforts to arrest the remaining members of the gang.
