A gang of Algerian immigrants stole £600,000 worth of jewellery from members of the Abu Dhabi royal family outside St Pancras station right after they arrived on the Eurostar.
The migrant gang said that they came to the UK to steal from people because 'that's where the money is' in WhatsApp messages between each other, Inner London Crown Court heard.
The royal victims - Roda Al Nahyan, her mother Shamsa, and Najla Al Qubaisi - had just left the station and got into a taxi on October 16, 2025.
The driver had just loaded their bags into the car, but the gang of thieves struck when he was distracted, pinching three suitcases and running off with them into the night at 11pm.
There was more than £600,000 worth of jewellery inside two of these cases, the court heard.
None was ever recovered, but Abdel Aitkebir, 35, Medhi Fatih, 41, were both jailed for the theft yesterday.
Their co-conspirator Faysal Benoumechiara, 27, was also locked up for stealing five bags across 11 months on separate occasions worth a further £81,000.
Aitkebir told the court that he sold the royal family's cases and the jewellery for just under £10,000 to a market trader in south London - just 1.7 per cent of the actual value.
The moment Abdel Aitkebir, 35, stole one of the bags with jewellery worth more than £600,000 from Abu Dahbi royal family members at St Pancras Station
CCTV shows Farih (purple arrow) and Aitkebir (beige arrow) loitering outside St Pancras Station, looking for people to steal from
Abdel Aitkebir, 35, and Medhi Fatih, 41, admitted to stealing three bags with more than £600,000 worth of jewellery inside on October 16, 2025. Aitkebir was jailed for two years and six months and Fatih for two years and three months
He was jailed for two years and six months, while his accomplice Fatih was handed a two-year and three-month sentence.
The victims are part of the Nahyan family - the royal ruling family of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates' leading dynasty.
The family is thought to be worth more than £250billion with huge stakes in the UAE's oil reserves.
Aitkebir and Fatih entered the UK illegally in July 2025.
In a WhatsApp group chat found by police on Benoumechiara's phone, one gang member spoke of the reason for them coming to Britain.
He said: 'Peace be upon you my brothers. I want to tell you something. I did not come here to take tops or I don't know what.
'I come here to get the watches and get the money. This country is where the money is. Get yourselves ready my brothers.'
On the night the gang targeted the Abu Dhabi royals, Aitkebir and Fatih were seen stalking unaware victims on the station forecourt by CCTV cameras, loitering outside on the night of the theft.
The three women are seen walking towards a van waiting for them at about 10.45pm.
Before the cases were loaded into the boot, CCTV shows an unidentified man distracting the driver while Aitkebir and Fatih go for the cases, snatch them, and run off.
Photos of the stolen jewellery - gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings - were found later on Fatih's phone.
When asked if they could prove that the items were worth £600,000, Diana Wilson, for the prosecution, answered: 'They are an extremely wealthy family. They are not the sort of family that keeps receipts.'
Aitkebir admitted a single count of theft and told the court how he sold the case three days after the heist.
Speaking via an interpreter, he said: 'I sold it for just under £10,000.'
A third unidentified man distracted the driver before Aitkebir and Fatih pinched the bags and sprinted off into the night at 11pm
Police found pictures of the stolen jewellery on Fatih's phone after he was arrested
Aitkebir told the court that he sold the cases and the jewellery for just under £10,000 to a market trader in south London - just 1.7 per cent of the actual value
'All I know is I took the gold out and I sold it. I showed the man some jewellery, said I'm selling these items and he bought them.
'When he offered that amount of money I was really happy because at that point I had no money for food and nowhere to sleep.
'I would like to say I'm sorry and I apologise for what I did.'
The Algerian worked illegally on building sites, cash in hand, and claimed he was not part of a wider group of bag thieves and this was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.
But judge Benedict Kelleher dismissed these claims, telling the court previously: 'The obvious inference is that the people involved were acting together and knew each other, that they were waiting for a target or targets to arrive at the station and they were targeting people likely to have high-value goods to steal.
'I am clear this was a planned and organised theft, that the victims were targeted because of their apparent wealth, and Mr Aitkebir was a part of that.
'I reject his evidence.'
The gang appeared to use St Pancras as their hunting ground, WhatsApp group chat messages between them revealed.
On 9 October, one man messaged the chat: 'Hello my dear. How are you, Faysal? We will meet later in the afternoon in the field. You know what I mean my dear.'
On 23 October Benoumechiara sent a photo of a St Pancras passenger to the chat, and on 1 November he sent another posing with a Louis Vuitton bag.
Benoumechiara was not involved in stealing from the UAE royals, but was convicted of five other thefts that took place over 11 months and jailed for two years and three months.
He stole luggage from trains and car boots from December 2024 to November 2025.
The first occasion on December 8, 2024, he boarded a train at King's Cross and stole a bag with items worth £60,000 inside.
He struck again on May 26, 2025, and stole a bag from a woman when she left her seat.
August saw him steal twice in less than a week - first on the 16th when he pinched luggage worth over £6,000 and again on the 21st when he swiped a bag with contents worth £15,000 while others distracted its owner at St Pancras.
Faysal Benoumechiara, 27, was caught alongside three other men on November 4 and convicted of five thefts of bags across 11 months, totalling £81,000 from trains and car boots. Aitkebir and Fatih and one other were also arrested that day
CCTV captured the moment Benoumechiara stole a bag from the luggage rack with £60,000 of items inside on a train from King's Cross to Peterborough on December 8, 2024. He was jailed for two years and three months
He was finally caught on November 4 last year when plainclothes police saw him and three other men rifling through a bag at the entrance of King's Cross Station.
This bag was returned to its rightful owner after cops cuffed Samy Legouini, 32, Mohamed Koulai, 33, and Amine Bennari, 25, alongside Benoumechiara after he was recognised by the officers for previous offences.
Fatih and Aitkebir were also arrested that day for their involvement in the heist of the UAE royals' bags.
A seventh thief, Yacine Chenite, 38, was also arrested that day after police linked him to another attempted theft of a bag from the boot of a car on October 12, 2025.
Chenite, Legouini, Koulai and Bennari were all sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to theft and attempted theft on February 25, 2026.
Detective Constable Nicholas Barr said: 'These men worked together in an organised fashion to target everyday commuters and steal their valuables, and their string of crimes caused so many victims huge amounts of stress and anxiety.
'Thanks to the keen eyes and awareness of our officers at King's Cross in November last year, the group were caught red-handed. Our officers patrol the rail network every day in plain clothes to react to anything suspicious and stop offenders like these men in their tracks.
'If you see someone acting suspiciously in stations or on trains, or if you've been the victim or witness to a theft, I urge you to report it to us by texting 61016. We take every report seriously, and just as we have in this case we'll do everything in our power to bring thieves to justice.'
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