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Clifford Lo

Hong Kong police are hunting a gang of smash-and-grab robbers who made off with luxury watches valued at about HK$40 million (US$5.1 million) in a 37-second raid on a store in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.
A source familiar with the case said on Tuesday that one robber posing as a customer entered Alpha Watch and Jewellery on Granville Road at around 3.06pm and was closely followed by four masked men in hoodies.
It was the fourth watch shop targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui in nine months.
“Two robbers threatened two staff members with knives while the others smashed the glass of the display counters with sledgehammers,” the insider said.

He said the gang grabbed about 25 luxury watches from the smashed counters before fleeing from the shop.
The watches stolen included Swiss brands such as Richard Mille and Patek Philippe, the Post learned. One Richard Mille timepiece had a price tag of more than HK$4 million.
The gang fled in a getaway car driven by a sixth robber, he added. No weapons were left at the crime scene.
Hong Kong boy, 10, arrested over HK$3.7 million robbery of luxury watch store
A video posted online shows two of the robbers smashing display counters with sledgehammers. An unmasked man wearing a white long-sleeved shirt first enters the shop seconds before the four men – three clad in black – rush in.
The video also shows the robbers were locked inside the shop initially. One used a sledgehammer to smash the glass door and they then made their escape.


An employee told the media they opened the shop door for a man after he rang the bell. He pushed open the door unusually wide and appeared to have something to ask the staff. In less than two seconds, four men in surgical masks tailgated him and rushed in.
As the gang ransacked the shop, the robbers waved knives at the employees, warning them not to move, the worker said.
“They took out knives and brandished them before me. When their accomplices were almost done, they reversed and ran,” he said.
“Our door locked automatically, they smashed it. We weren’t too frightened, we knew they were only after money.”
Hong Kong police arrest 17-year-old in connection with robbery of watch store
The source said the gang members, who wore surgical masks, included four non-Chinese men. Two appeared to be ethnic Chinese – the one who initially posed as a customer and the getaway driver.
The manhunt was still under way as of Tuesday night. No arrests have been made so far.
A police spokesman said the force was searching for six suspects, aged between 20 and 25. They were the man who rang the door bell, the four robbers and the driver of the getaway car, which headed along Chatham Road South after the smash-and-grab.
The same shop owner was robbed of a Richard Mille watch worth HK$1.4 million while on his way to meet a potential buyer about three years ago.
A gang pounced on him moments after he left the Granville Road shop. Four robbers pushed him to the ground and then punched and kicked him. They then slipped the luxury Swiss watch off his wrist and fled on foot in two different directions.

The latest case follows one on September 11, in which three robbers stormed into the VIP Station store on Canton Road, broke the glass of the display counters and fled with HK$3.7 million worth of watches.
They escaped in a getaway car driven by a fourth suspect.
Police arrested at least five suspects, including a 10-year-old boy, in connection with the heist and recovered all the stolen watches.
On July 6, five smash-and-grab robbers made off with HK$3.8 million worth of timepieces from a watch shop on Mody Road.
On March 25, four thieves dressed as construction workers stole 46 watches worth about HK$10 million from the RWW Watch Company on Nathan Road.
4 Hong Kong robbers jailed for up to 8 years over raid on jewellery store
Another source said: “Tsim Sha Tsui is filled with high-end shops, with roads connecting in all directions, making it easy to escape. That’s why criminals often choose shops in the area to rob.”
In 2017 and 2018, a spate of smash-and-grab shop robberies prompted two local jewellery industry associations to issue security warnings and advice to their members who were urged not to put so many valuables in display counters.
The high-profile cases included a HK$40 million hold-up in Central in March 2018 in which three Colombian men took off with HK$40 million worth of jewellery in 60 seconds by smashing display windows with a hammer at a shop. The trio were arrested on the same day.
In September 2017, three masked robbers smashed the display window of a Tsim Sha Tsui goldsmith shop, making off with HK$24 million worth of valuables. The thieves fled on a motorbike before police arrived.
Over the first nine months of this year, police handled 75 robbery reports, an increase of 33.9 per cent from 56 cases logged during the same period in 2022.
Additional reporting by Danny Mok


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Crime in Hong Kong

Hong Kong police hunt gang behind 37-second, HK$40 million luxury watch robbery in busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district

Police stand guard outside Alpha Watch and Jewellery after robbers made off with timepieces worth about HK$40 million. Photo: May Tse

Police officers investigate at the scene of the robbery on Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: May Tse

Alpha Watch and Jewellery is located on Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Google map

Hong Kong woman accused of smothering husband to death with quilt, mattress faces murder charge

Police escorted a 52-year-old woman back to her home in Chai Kek Village to reconstruct the crime scene. The woman is suspected of murdering her husband. Photo: Jelly Tse

The murder came to light when the victim’s nephew alerted the police on Saturday night after a failed attempt to visit his uncle. Photo: Jelly Tse

The woman is suspected of murdering her husband by pinning home down with a mattress and smothering him with items such as a quilt. Photo: Jelly Tse

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The elderly victim found that HK$16 million had been transferred out of her account after she gave the fraudster her online banking login and password, according to police. Photo: Shutterstock

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News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Four men storm into Alpha Watch and Jewellery on Granville Road, smash display counters and grab about 25 timepieces before escaping in getaway car, police say
It was the fourth watch shop targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui in nine months


Four men stormed into Alpha Watch and Jewellery on Tsim Sha Tsui’s Granville Road on Tuesday afternoon, before escaping in a getaway car, police say.


Hong Kong police

Hong Kong police hunt gang behind 37-second, HK$40 million luxury watch robbery in busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district

Four men storm into Alpha Watch and Jewellery on Granville Road, smash display counters and grab about 25 timepieces before escaping in getaway car, police say It was the fourth watch shop targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui in nine months

Four men storm into Alpha Watch and Jewellery on Granville Road, smash display counters and grab about 25 timepieces before escaping in getaway car, police say

It was the fourth watch shop targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui in nine months