A mainlander was arrested on Monday for burgling a flat in Nape last November while his wife was caught later that day for receiving the stolen goods from her husband, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a special press conference yesterday.
The couple are a 29-year-old jobless man surnamed Yang and his 33-year-old wife surnamed Tian who told the police that she works in a kindergarten.
According to Ho, Public Security Police (PSP) passed a burglary case to the Judiciary Police (PJ) for follow-up investigation on November 18 last year. The case concerned the break-in in a flat on the upper floor of a residential building in Rua de Londres in Nape.
The female victim told the police that when she opened a drawer of her dressing table earlier that day she discovered that a gold chain had vanished. She immediately checked her belongings and found that some of the locked drawers in a wardrobe in her bedroom had been pried open and a quantity of valuables was gone.
The victim and her two children informed the police that the valuables such as two diamond rings, a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, multiple pieces of gold jewellery, cash in patacas and non-local currencies had disappeared, a loss worth more than 170,000 patacas.
According to the investigation at the crime scene, the Judiciary Police concluded that Yang broke into the flat with the help of burglary tools, and when scrutinising CCTV footage, PJ officers confirmed that Yang followed residents into the building at about 3 p.m. on November 16 and left it after staying there for about 40 minutes. The Judiciary Police confirmed that Yang had returned to the mainland via the Barrier Gate checkpoint on the following day (November 17) after the burglary, Ho said.
According to Ho, the Judiciary Police discovered that Yang, and his wife surnamed Tian re-entered Macau together on Friday via the Barrier Gate checkpoint. The police suspected that they were preparing to commit crimes here again so PJ officers put them under surveillance. The officers saw Yang enter another residential building in Nape at about 1 p.m. on Monday. The officers intercepted Yang in the lobby of the building and seized some burglary tools, a glove and a number of non-local currency notes. At the same time, the Judiciary Police intercepted Tian near a hotel in the same district, and found a number of diamond rings and pieces of gold jewellery on her, Ho said.
Under questioning, Yang denied committing the crime while Tian failed to explain how she got the jewellery. The victim identified two diamond rings and a gold necklace as the valuables stolen from her flat, according to Ho.
Ho said the Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation whether the couple committed other crimes in Macau.
The couple were transferred separately to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday. Yang faces an aggravated theft charge while Tian faces a fencing charge, according to Ho.
The hooded male burglary suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
Photos: Iong Tat Choi
Evidence seized from the suspects such as some burglary tools, a glove, several diamond rings, four necklaces, a smartphone, yuan notes and other non-local currency notes are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters.
