Dubai Police return 6,040 lost items in five years, from Dh2m necklace to Rolex watches

Dubai Police have recovered and returned valuables ranging from a necklace worth more than Dh2 million to a Rolex watch valued at Dh150,000, using a smart delivery service that allows owners to reclaim lost belongings without travelling back to Dubai. Over the past five years, the force has returned 6,040 lost items to their owners, according to Emarat Al Youm.

For some tourists, a phone call from Dubai Police after they have gone home brings relief that a cherished possession thought lost forever has been found. For others, it is a complete surprise: officers tell them they misplaced something they had not even realised was missing. In many cases, the conversation ends with a further promise that the item will be delivered to their doorstep.

Delivery to the owner's door

The force says the initiative was introduced after officials recognised how hard it was for many people to collect lost property, particularly visitors who had already left the emirate. Owners who receive a notification can now choose a delivery time and location through an online platform, so their belongings reach them wherever they are.

Dubai Police separately announced on X in late July that residents can have recovered items delivered to their homes or workplaces in any of the UAE's seven emirates. Customers wishing to use the service can call the Call Centre on 901. The service is part of a broader push to expand smart, customer-focused police services. Owners can also report a loss through the Dubai Police app by applying for a Lost Certificate, an official document that includes a description of the item and the date of loss and helps with follow-up if the item is found or handed in.

Reactions of disbelief and joy

First Lieutenant Reem Al Hosani, head of the Communications and Complaints Follow-up Section at the Lost and Found Department, said some of the most memorable moments came when people learned their belongings had been recovered before they knew they were missing.

"We have contacted people who did not know they had lost anything,"

she said, adding that reactions were often disbelief and joy. Al Hosani said every item receives the same attention regardless of its financial value, because sentimental worth can far exceed price.

She recalled one case involving an old mobile phone with no SIM card or identifying information. After extensive efforts, officers traced the owner. Deeply moved, he wrote a poem dedicated to the team, explaining that his poems were his most treasured possessions and the best way he could say thank you.

A unified platform and secure vaults

The Lost and Found Department, established in 2015, has built a unified platform that brings together property recovered across Dubai, including at hotels, shopping malls, airports and government entities. The system links around 1,600 strategic partners and is open to the public, so anyone who finds an item can register it online and help return it to its owner.

For scale, Dubai Police returned 171,490 lost items in 2025, according to figures published earlier this year. The department handled 868,110 found items that year and received 159,962 reports of lost belongings, which came through police stations, approved drop-off points such as shopping centres, and Smart Police Stations.

First Lieutenant Sami Al Houti, who has spent more than three decades handling lost property, said Dubai Police maintains dedicated high-security vaults for cash, jewellery and luxury watches, with specialised equipment used to examine and classify precious metals.

Claim periods and rules

Under the lost-property rules, owners have three months to claim recovered items before they may be auctioned under legal procedures. If an item is sold, the proceeds are held for three years so owners can recover their value if they come forward later. The framework is set out in Dubai's Law No. 17 of 2025 on the Disposition of Lost and Abandoned Property, which requires police to keep lost property for at least three months and provides that proceeds unclaimed within three years of a sale go to the Dubai Government's Public Treasury Account. The law also allows police to sell certain items earlier, for example if they are perishable or of insignificant value.

Cross-border tracing

Al Houti recalled tracing the owner of a Rolex worth around Dh150,000 after she had returned to Eastern Europe. She had mistakenly believed she lost the watch in a traffic accident involving her children, and when officers called, she at first refused to believe them because she thought it had vanished after the crash.

In another case, officers reunited a Russian tourist with a watch valued at about Dh40,000. When local records produced nothing, the team contacted the retailer's international branches and eventually identified her purchase through a store in France, which allowed the watch to be returned.

Not all memorable recoveries involve costly items, Al Houti said. One man reported losing a coffee cup worth only a few dirhams because it carried deep personal significance. Another visitor from the Gulf flew to Dubai and returned home the same day just to collect an item belonging to his wife, even though the journey cost more than the object.

"Some belongings simply cannot be measured by their price,"

Al Houti said.

Other recent recoveries

The case is one of several recent high-value returns. In May 2026, Dubai Police returned a handbag containing silver bars worth around Dh2 million to an Asian passenger at Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport, after the passenger reported the loss before boarding. Also in May, a woman's bag containing $20,000, 150 grams of gold, other currencies, phones and documents was traced at Terminal 1 just as she was about to leave for Saudi Arabia.

In June, officers recovered Dh3,000 lost by an Arab tourist in a shopping centre within two hours and transferred it to her bank account in her home country after she had left the UAE. Days earlier, a bag with three luxury watches worth a combined Dh103,880, a laptop and a tablet was returned to a Gulf national at Terminal 1 arrivals, and a taxi driver was honoured for returning Dh10,000 to a tourist before his flight.