HARGEISA (Kaab TV) – Somaliland authorities are investigating how two men carrying Georgian passports managed to carry out a sophisticated gold scam in the capital Hargeisa last week.
The two suspects, captured on CCTV footage, made away with gold necklaces weighing about 340 grams, valued at approximately $42,000.
According to reports, the incident unfolded in a calculated manner. The men, who had hired a local taxi driver, visited a gold shop in downtown Hargeisa where businesswoman Saakhiya Ibrahim was serving customers.
Saakhiya told local media that the men had frequented her shop over four consecutive days, posing as genuine buyers.
“For four days they kept coming back and buying small items. On September 22nd, they requested to purchase several gold necklaces. They appeared satisfied with the pieces, packed them in a small bag, and then handed it back to me saying they would withdraw cash from the ATM,” she explained.
Unbeknownst to her, the men had cleverly switched the genuine gold with fake chains made of brass, leaving Saakhiya holding worthless imitations.
“They told me the real gold was in their bag and asked me to hold it for them until they returned at 1:00 p.m. with the money. I had no reason to doubt them,” Saakhiya recalled.
That same afternoon, on September 22, the two men boarded a FlyDubai flight from Hargeisa’s Egal International Airport to Dubai, never to return.
The jeweler, who supports her orphaned children through her small business, is now facing heavy financial losses as more than half of her shop’s inventory was stolen.
She described the suspects as wearing dark sunglasses, speaking little, and repeatedly saying: “Somaliland is wonderful” and “Somaliland is beautiful.” One of them was also wearing a baseball cap.
Officials from Somaliland’s immigration department confirmed receiving Saakhiya’s complaint but noted that by the time authorities were alerted, the suspects had already left on the Dubai-bound flight.
Somaliland police and aviation authorities said they have contacted their counterparts in the United Arab Emirates to pursue the case.
The heist is considered one of the most elaborate scams by foreigners in Somaliland in recent years. Despite being an unrecognized state, Somaliland has been widely praised for its stability and has increasingly attracted foreign visitors.
Last month, Somaliland authorities announced that entry visas could now be obtained on arrival at the country’s airports. Local media, however, have raised concerns over the need for stricter vetting of foreigners entering the country to prevent crimes targeting local citizens.