A male Filipino non-resident worker (NRW), who is in his thirties and worked as a deliveryman, was arrested recently for stealing 14 mobile phones in a batch worth 11,200 patacas destined for shipment overseas via the local airport, a Public Security Police (PSP) spokesperson said during a regular press conference on Friday.
The spokesperson added that seven other Filipino non-resident workers (NRWs), comprising six males and a female, were also nabbed recently for fencing the stolen mobile phones.
According to the spokesperson, the seven suspects, aged between 29 and 52, worked as airport ground staff, a domestic helper, and cleaners respectively.
The spokesperson said that the Public Security Police received a report in mid-November last year it was suspected that a batch of mobile phones awaiting shipment overseas through the local airport had been stolen while being transported to the airport, with a total loss of 11,200 patacas.
The Public Security Police identified the eight suspects, who were taken to a police station separately for questioning, according to the spokesperson, who said that under questioning, the deliveryman admitted to taking advantage of handling the transportation of the goods to steal “at least” five mobile phones and fence them to one of the suspects working as a cleaner for 2,500 patacas, which the other six suspects then resold.
The spokesperson said that at the time of the press conference the Public Security Police had recovered four of the stolen phones, while they were still looking for the other stolen items.
The eight suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where seven of them face theft charges, while the deliveryman faces an abuse-of-trust charge.
These undated handout photos provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday show PSP officers escorting the eight Filipino suspects to a police station in Taipa.
