A group of young men use pliers to break locks and steal motorbikes and car batteries.

From around the beginning of July 2020, through the work of grasping the situation, the Criminal Police Team's detectives,Yen Thanh District Policeverified a gang of property thieves that regularly organizes mobile activities in many localities in Nghe An province, led by Le Thanh Quan (born 1988), residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district.

Four suspects were arrested. Photo: Duc Vu.

Through verification, the subject Le Thanh Quan has 4 previous convictions for illegal possession of drugs, theft of property, and abuse of trust to appropriate property. Quan often gathers subjects with criminal records and drug addicts to organizetheft of propertyin districts in Nghe An province, taking money to spend and use drugs.

Immediately after the discovery, Yen Thanh District Police established a special project, mobilizing experienced detectives and investigators to organize the fight. During the fight, the special project team encountered many difficulties because the subjects frequently changed locations, and their scope of activities was wide, mainly in Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, and Nghi Loc districts, so monitoring was difficult.

Taking statement of suspect Le Thanh Quan. Photo: Duc Vu

At 1:00 p.m. on September 6, 2020, Yen Thanh District Police arrested 3 subjects for property theft, including: Le Thanh Quan (born in 1988), residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district (a drug addict with 4 previous convictions for illegal possession of drugs, theft of property, and abuse of trust to appropriate property); Nguyen Huu Nam (born in 1987), residing in Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district (drug addict with 2 previous convictions for theft); Tran Van Ngoi (born in 1987) residing in Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district (drug addict).

Expanding the investigation, arresting Nguyen Hong Phuong (born 1992), residing in Dong Loc hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district, for the act of consuming property obtained by others through crime.

At the District Police Investigation Agency, the subjects confessed to 12 motorbike thefts and 4 car battery thefts in Nghe An province. Currently, the Police Agency has seized 11 motorbikes, 2 batteries, and 1 lock breaking tool. The total value of the assets is about 150 million VND.

The police seized 11 motorbikes, 02 batteries, 01 lock breaking tool. Photo: Manh Cuong

The subjects invited each other to use motorbikes to steal property. When they discovered a loophole, the subjects assigned someone to keep watch, someone to use a pliers to break the lock, then quickly stole people's motorbikes and took them away to sell.

To have money to satisfy their addiction every day, the subjects sold the stolen motorbikes to Nguyen Hong Phuong at very cheap prices from 500,000 VND to 4 million VND.