Two men were arrested on Saturday for stealing 504 smartphones worth HK$2.52 million during peak hours from an Inner Harbour pier on Thursday, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a special press conference yesterday.
The two suspects are a 37-year-old local man surnamed Chan who works as a part-time dockhand in the Inner Harbour, and a 33-year-old male mainlander surnamed Zhao who is a non-resident motorcycle repairman
According to Lei, Chan was involved in a number of crimes such as usury, brawling and theft in the past two decades. He was put on probation.
Lei said a Hong Kong businessman reported to the Judiciary Police on Thursday that four boxes containing 504 smartphones worth about HK$2.52 million had been stolen from a pier in the Inner Harbour. The victim told the police that the smartphones had just arrived in Macau.
The Judiciary Police identified three suspects. Chan was arrested when he entered Macau at the Barrier Gate checkpoint on Saturday afternoon while Zhao was arrested on the same day at a vehicle repair shop near Rua do Tarrafeiro where he worked.
PJ officers seized a trolley at the vehicle repair shop which had been used by the suspects to remove the boxes containing the smartphones. Chan and Zhao refused to cooperate with the police.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police have gathered information showing that Chan met Zhao when he repaired the latter’s motorcycle two years ago. Chan knew that a batch of highly-priced smartphones was scheduled to be delivered to Macau. Since he was familiar with the operation of the pier, he plotted the theft with Zhao, according to Lei.
Lei said Zhao found an accomplice in the mainland, and both entered Macau last Tuesday at noon, after which they went to the Inner Harbour to meet up with Chan. At about 5 p.m., they picked the peak hours when staff at the pier were busy with unloading goods and clearing customs for Zhao and his accomplice to enter the pier with the trolley. They pretended to collect goods, used the trolley to remove the four boxes of smartphones and met Chan who was waiting in a car outside the pier. After Zhao and his accomplice put the boxes into Chan’s car, both went straight to the Barrier Gate checkpoint on a motorbike so that Zhao’s accomplice could return to the mainland. After about 30 minutes, the victim was informed by someone from the pier that the boxes had vanished and he reported the case to the police.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police discovered that Chan had borrowed the car from a friend. He went to the mainland via the Barrier Gate checkpoint after committing the crime. Lei said at the time of the press conference the Judiciary Police were still looking for the whereabouts of the four boxes and the accomplice.
Chan and Zhao were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing aggravated theft charges, according to Lei.
The two hooded theft suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
Evidence seized from the theft suspects such as a trolley and two smartphones is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
