Two "master thieves" charged for stealing 6 billion VND from a passenger bus.

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of February 28, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu Cuong - Deputy Head of Vinh City Police, said that the investigating agency has initiated legal proceedings and detained Nguyen Thanh Binh (33 years old, residing in Vinh Tan ward, Vinh City) and Cao Ngoc Duong (27 years old, residing in Truong Thi ward, Vinh City) for 4 months on charges of theft.

In addition, Cao Ngoc Duong was also charged with the crime of illegally possessing military weapons.

The two suspects, Duong and Binh. Photo: Xuan Bac

The investigating agency concluded that Binh was a bus assistant for Tuan Thuy bus company, operating the Vinh - Hanoi route. Knowing that the bus company had received packages from a regular customer several times, suspected to be valuable, Binh planned the theft and invited Duong to participate.

On the night of February 15th, Binh, posing as a traffic accident victim with his face covered, boarded a bus with Duong and bought tickets to Hanoi. After a few minutes, Binh and Duong asked to get off and paid the bus company 200,000 VND, claiming they were not feeling well enough.

Earlier, as usual, Tuan Thuy bus company received a package from a woman named Mien – the owner of a silver shop. The bus company owner accepted the package and put it in the trunk behind the driver's seat.

While the bus was picking up passengers along the way, Binh used a key he had prepared to open the trunk, steal the package, and then asked to get off the bus. After stealing the goods, the two of them divided them in half and went their separate ways.

On the morning of February 16th, when the vehicle arrived at Hanoi bus station, the owner opened the trunk to retrieve a package and discovered it was missing. Only then did the owner realize the package contained valuables worth 6.1 billion VND, including: 220,000 USD, 600,000 Baht; 921,000 JPY; and 669,300 TWD.

Evidence seized in the case. Photo: Nguyen Hung

While the search for the perpetrators of the theft was underway, on the night of February 16th, Vinh City police and the 113 emergency response team successfully thwarted a planned shootout between two gangs armed with guns, ammunition, and weapons at a bridge in Vinh Tan ward. Among the suspects arrested was Duong, along with evidence including a sawed-off AK rifle and a homemade gun with several rounds of ammunition.

During a search of Duong's house, police seized a large amount of foreign currency. Duong confessed to committing the theft with Binh. Two days later, Binh was also apprehended in Vinh City while attempting to flee.

At the police station, Binh admitted to being the mastermind behind the theft and said he wanted to steal the bag of money to have a more comfortable life and avoid having to work for others.

Nguyen Hung