Muscat – The Royal Oman Police have arrested two tourists of European nationality accused of carrying out an organised jewellery theft valued at nearly RO 1 million, authorities said on Sunday.

The suspects entered the Sultanate on tourist visas and stayed at a hotel near jewellery shops in the Ghubrah area of Muscat, where they allegedly surveyed the location and planned the robbery, according to a statement by Muscat Governorate Police in coordination with the General Department of Criminal Investigation.

Police said the two men broke through the rear wall of a jewellery store at around 4 a.m. using a mechanical demolition tool, stole large quantities of jewellery, forced open a safe and took cash from inside the premises.

Following intensive investigation and tracking, authorities arrested the suspects, seized the tools used in the crime and recovered the stolen jewellery, which had been hidden on a beach in the Sifah area after being transported by boat that the suspects had rented under the pretext of a leisure trip.

Legal procedures are currently under way, police added.