Eliminate a group that took advantage of social distancing to steal property from restaurants and construction sites in Vinh City

On October 4, Vinh City Police said that the unit had just discovered a property theft case, arrested 4 subjects, and clarified the amount of stolen property worth more than 2.5 billion VND.

Previously, during the implementation of Directive 16 and Directive 15 of the Government onCovid-19 preventionIn Vinh city and neighboring districts, there are theft crimes at restaurants, service businesses, apartments, break-ins at houses, construction sites...

Evidence of the case. Photo: Duc Vu

Notably, at the Havana store located on Le Mao extended street in Tan Phuc block, Vinh Tan ward (Vinh city); the subjects broke in and took all the furniture, equipment, lighting system, cameras, restaurant dishes, with initial estimated property damage of about 350 million VND.

Through receiving reports from the people and verifying and examining the scenes of the thefts, the Criminal Police Team, Vinh City Police, determined that from around 0:00 to 4:00 a.m., the subjects took advantage of the epidemic situation when there were few people passing by, restaurants were closed and construction works were temporarily suspended to break in and use tools and means to break doors to steal property. The thieves stole a lot of property, from expensive electronics to common household items.

Subjects Le Quoc Hung and Bui Xuan Dong. Photo: Duc Vu

Faced with that situation, under the direction of the Provincial Police, Vinh City Police assigned specific tasks and directed the Criminal Police Team to establish a special project to concentrate maximum forces and synchronously deploy working measures to effectively combat this type of crime.

On September 27, 2021, more than 20 officers of Vinh City Police simultaneously arrested and urgently searched 4 subjects for property theft, including: Bui Quang Cuong (born in 1968), residing in Trung Do Ward (Vinh City); Nguyen Thanh Dong (born in 1972), residing in Xuan Lam Commune (Hung Nguyen); Le Quoc Hung (born in 1991), residing in Ben Thuy Ward (Vinh City); Bui Xuan Dong (born in 1976), residing in Quan Bau Ward (Vinh City). Many different types of assets were recovered, from electronic devices to household items and shops, with a total value of more than 2.5 billion VND.

Subjects Bui Quang Cuong and Nguyen Thanh Dong. Photo: Duc Vu

During the investigation, the suspects admitted to their crimes. Their methods were very sophisticated, causing many difficulties for the investigation.

When restaurants, businesses, and construction sites were closed due to the implementation of Directive 16, the subjects chose shortcuts to enter and exit the city; at night, the subjects wore masks, disabled the electrical system and security cameras, broke in and stole property; after committing the crime, the subjects used rickshaws to transport the stolen property and split into many routes to escape.

The abandoned house where the subjects hid the stolen property. Photo: Duc Vu

The leader of Vinh City Police said that the arrested subjects all had 1-4 previous convictions for drug trafficking, illegal possession and theft; the evidence was stolen property that the subjects hid in an abandoned house about 30 square meters wide.^2.

Vinh City Police used 3 new trucks to transport all the stolen property. During the investigation, it was found that the subjects had committed 3 thefts in Nghe An province and 10 thefts in Ha Tinh province.

Currently, Vinh City Police are continuing to investigate and expand.