The Judiciary Police (PJ) and Public Security Police (PSP) held a joint operation to solve a three-minute theft case involving five tourists from the Philippines, PJ spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei and PSP spokesman Lei Tak Fai said during a special conference yesterday.
According to the spokeswoman, the suspects comprise four males and a female, aged between 43 and 63, surnamed Enteria, Grego, Lemon, Marin, and Mendoza.
Lemon and Grego told the police that they work as sales assistants. Mendoza said that he works as a driver. Marin said that he is a construction worker. Enteria said that she is unemployed. All arrived in Macau as tourists, the spokeswoman said.
According to the spokeswoman, the suspects stole 14 gold necklaces weighing a total of 33.497 grammes.
The case was reported by the staff of a jewellery shop in Avenida da Amizade in Zape at about 1:35 p.m. on Tuesday. When police officers arrived at scene, the staff told them that the five suspects had been browsing in the shop, the spokeswoman said.
According to the spokeswoman, Lemon initially entered the shop alone and looked at the watches, while Grego, Mendoza went in later and looked at the jewellery. Several minutes later, Marin and Enteria entered and had a look around. Three minutes later, Marin opened an unlocked jewellery cabinet which is close to the entrance of the shop and scooped up 14 gold necklaces. He handed the necklaces to Enteria who put them in a bag and they both ran off leaving the first three suspects in the shop. Later, they also left the shop.Theft takes 3 minutes
All 14 necklaces were stolen in about three minutes starting at about 1:22 p.m. on Tuesday, the spokeswoman said.
After the staff realised that 14 necklaces had been stolen, they called the police, reporting a total loss of half a million Hong Kong dollars (515,000 patacas), the spokeswoman said.
Thanks to the public CCTV camera footage, police discovered the suspects’ whereabouts, the spokeswoman said. The quintet took two taxis and returned to their rooms in an inn in the central district. Then each took a taxi to the local airport where they bought air tickets to the Philippines, the spokeswoman said.
According to the spokeswoman, PJ officers told their PSP counterparts at the airport to intercept the suspects.
The five suspects were stopped at 3:50 p.m. in the airport’s departure lounge as they were waiting for their flight back to the Philippines, which was due to leave in an hour, the spokeswoman added.
The five suspects admitted to the theft, the spokeswoman said. They told the police that they had arrived in Macau separately on Monday and committed the crime together, the spokeswoman said, adding that they know each other in the Philippines and came up with a plan to steal from a jewellery shop in Macau this month, Lei added.
They were transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) yesterday. They face aggravated theft charges, the spokeswoman said.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded Filipino suspects from the PJ headquarters to a vehicle in Zape yesterday.
A total of 14 gold necklaces seized from the five Filipino suspects at the local airport are displayed at a PJ pressroom yesterday. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
