Three Mongolian women from the Republic of Mongolia were arrested on suspicion of theft at the Ruins of St Paul’s, Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Lai In Hong said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The three suspects are aged between 35 and 42. One of them lied to the police about her personal information, and it was discovered that she had served a prison sentence related to a theft case in Macau in 2017.
According to Lai, two mainland tourists reported to the police separately on February 23 that their personal belongings such as cash and a wallet had been stolen earlier that day. The owner of a shop near the Ruins of St Paul’s reported to the police on Saturday that a handbag worth 800 patacas had been shoplifted.
Police officers intercepted the trio on Saturday when they attempted to shoplift health products worth 700 patacas from a shop. The police then retrieved all the stolen goods from their hotel room in the city centre.
The trio admitted to stealing and said that one of them was tasked with causing a distraction while the others would “do the work”, Lai said.
The suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation, facing theft charges, according to Lai.
This pixelated and undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows PSP officers escorting the Mongolian theft trio to the Praia Grande (Nam Van) Police Station.
