Hong Kong police arrest 6 suspects over luxury watch heist in major shopping district
- Police say six men arrested for alleged roles in theft of 70 luxury watches worth about HK$13 million (US$1.7 million) from Tse’s Collection store in Causeway Bay
- Getaway car used in the robbery found abandoned in Tsuen Wan on Tuesday, with an air gun believed to have been used in the hold-up seized from the vehicle
Hong Kong police have arrested six men in connection with the theft of 70 luxury watches worth about HK$13 million (US$1.7 million) from a store in a major shopping district last week.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a call to the police’s hotline led officers to the discovery of a getaway car used in the robbery, found abandoned on a hillside at Shing Mun Reservoir in Tsuen Wan.
Chief Inspector Cheung Ka-wing of the Hong Kong Island regional crime unit said an air gun believed to have been used in the hold-up was seized in the car, along with clothes and shoes some of the culprits were allegedly wearing at the time of the heist. A bogus car number plate used in the robbery, a hammer and gloves were also found in the vehicle.
“The air gun’s magazine contained metal pellets,” he said, adding that the weapon would be sent for ballistic tests to determine if they could produce more than the legal limit of two joules in power. In Hong Kong, an air gun that produces more than two joules is considered a firearm under the Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance.
Four of the suspects, all unemployed and aged 20 to 35, were arrested in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok on Sunday.
Cheung said four of the suspects had been charged with robbery and brought to Eastern Court on Tuesday morning, adding that the case was adjourned to November 29 and the four men were remanded in custody.
The force had been searching for a gang of four robbers who raided Tse’s Collection, a ground-floor shop at the junction of Lockhart Road and Canal Road East in Causeway Bay, at about 1pm on Wednesday.
