AMMAN — Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of eight wanted criminals in two security operations in the capital and Aqaba.
Three suspects were arrested in an Amman neighbourhood, while the remaining five were apprehended during a raid in the port city, Public Security Department (PSD) Spokesperson Major Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.
He described the seven suspects, who have previous criminal records, as extremely dangerous.
In the first incident, Sartawi said the Criminal Investigation Department received information about a wanted person who was hiding in a house in an Amman suburb.
“A special force monitored the area and raided the house at dawn on Wednesday.”
The suspects fired at the security personnel but “the special forces managed to contain the situation and arrest the suspects without any major incident,” the police official added.
The suspects were specialised in stealing vehicles and then asking the owner to pay a ransom to get it back, according to a PSD statement.
One of the suspects had 165 criminal records, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and car theft.
Police seized the weapons used by the suspects and a search of the house also yielded a stash of illegal narcotics, Sartawi said.
He added that the second operation involved the arrest of five suspects, who took refuge at a house in Aqaba, 330km south of Amman.
“No one was injured in this operation,” Sartawi said.
One of the suspects had 183 criminal records for theft, forgery and aggravated assault.
The Criminal Court prosecutor issued orders for all the suspects to be detained at correctional facilities pending further investigation.
