HONG KONG: Hong Kong police arrested six Indonesian citizens (WNI) on suspicion of involvement in the robbery of 25 luxury watches worth more than 6 million Hong Kong dollars (around Rp. 12 billion) from a shop in the city state’s shopping district.
Chief Inspector Lo Ka-chun of the Hong Kong Island regional crime unit told the South China Morning Post last weekend they had arrested three women and three Indonesian men aged between 26 and 35 years.
Lo continued that the suspects included four people whose residence permits were illegal and one person who filed a torture claim, noting that this was the first time an Indonesian citizen had been arrested for robbery in Hong Kong.
“Those who plan and commit crimes always mistakenly think that having a different citizenship, filing a claim of torture or staying illegally can enable them to escape police arrest,” he said.
“I want to emphasize that robbery is a serious crime, and we don’t care about the citizenship or residence permit of the robbers, the police will use all means to bring them to justice.”
It was said that an employee was inside the Legend Success Timepiece shop on Jalan Foo Ming, Causeway Bay district when the robbers carried out their attack on February 28.
A video posted online shows three people dressed in black, all wearing gloves, acting as a female customer enters the store.
One of the knife-wielding robbers attacked the woman from behind and pushed her out of the store.
The woman fell on the sidewalk. Two other robbers, carrying hammers and bags, then rushed in.
One of the robbers used a large hammer to smash the glass table. Meanwhile another took the watch and put it in a bag before running away.
Police said the gang fled in a green car driven by a fourth suspect.
Police said they finally managed to arrest the suspects after suspecting that the woman who opened the door for the robbers was part of the criminal gang.
The woman only pretended to be a customer to make it easier for the robbers to enter the shop.
Lo explained that the other suspects were a male robber armed with a knife, a woman, another woman who stole the watch, and the rest played supporting roles.
No one was injured in the incident that rocked Hong Kong.
Officers managed to arrest all the suspects in San Po Kong, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun after examining CCTV footage from all over Hong Kong.
Police said three of the suspects would be charged with robbery, while the other three were detained for investigation.
Authorities are still trying to track down the whereabouts of the stolen watch
Lo said that the police would continue to pursue criminals who were still at large and stolen goods that were stolen.