The Judiciary Police (PJ) recently busted a criminal group, arresting two local men and a man from the Chinese mainland on Saturday and Sunday for stealing cigars worth HK$10,500 (10,800 patacas) from a shopping mall locker, and 31 packets of fish maw valued at 310,000 patacas from a warehouse, PJ spokesman Cheong Un Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 28-year-old mainlander surnamed Kuang who claimed to be jobless, a 31-year-old local driver surnamed Wong and a 43-year-old local worker surnamed Lam.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral on Friday about two theft cases from the Public Security Police (PSP). Cheong noted that a middle-aged local man reported on Thursday that two boxes of cigars, worth HK$10,500, which he had put in a locker at a shopping mall in the northern district on Thursday evening, had been stolen the following morning, with the locker prised open.
Cheong added that another male victim reported that he had stored 31 packets of fish maw worth 310,000 patacas in a warehouse in the northern district last Wednesday. On Friday morning, he discovered that the warehouse door lock had been damaged and that the 31 packets of fish maw had been stolen, with the surveillance system in the warehouse also removed.
The police discovered that a man, who was still at large at the time of the press conference, used a hard object to forcibly open the locker and steal the cigars, which were then handed over to Kuang, who drove a motorcycle to assist the man in fleeing.
The police also discovered that the second case involved six individuals working together, including the three suspects and three others who were still at large at the time of the press conference. Among them, Lam was responsible for damaging the warehouse lock, while others were tasked with stealing the fish maw and removing the surveillance footage. After the theft, Wong drove a car to transport the stolen fish maw to a flat in a residential building in the northern district, where they concealed the stolen goods. Kuang was the ringleader for both theft cases, Wong rented the flat to hide the stolen fish maw, while Lam and the others were responsible for the break-in, destruction, and transport.
The police apprehended Kuang and Wong on Saturday evening near a residential building in the northern district, while Lam was arrested at the Barrier Gate checkpoint as he was leaving Macau on Sunday morning. Cheong said that Lam had received HK$20,000 from Kuang as payment for damaging the locks and transporting the stolen goods. The police recovered 29 packets of stolen fish maw from the flat.
The trio have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of theft and involvement in a criminal group.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Un Hong looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
