Vietnamese police bust foreign theft ring

Jul 15, 2009, 4:38 GMT

   Hanoi - Police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested six Indonesian members of a theft ring, a police official said Wednesday.

   'Due to being caught red-handed at the scene while stealing, they have admitted their crimes this time,' said Mai Van Tan, director of Ho Chi Minh City's Police Department of Social Order Crimes Investigation.

   'However we suspect them of being culprits in other similar cases, but they have not fully admitted this, so our officials are interrogating them.'

   The state-run Tuoi Tre Newspaper on Wednesday reported six Indonesian men, Wahyu Kurniwan, 37, Allen Fredy, 50, Ahmad Suarib, 45, Amah Dahlan, 34, Edy Nassan, 40, and Ibrahim Hasim, 42, were arrested while trying to steal money from a car.

   The newspaper said the suspects watched people withdraw money from banks and informed their accomplices about their distinguishing features or vehicle registrations. Their accomplices would then follow the targets and use spike-boards to puncture the vehicles' tyres.

   When drivers got out of their vehicles to check their tyres, the thieves would steal money from the car.

   Six similar cases were reported including one in which 280,000 dollars were stolen.

   The police said two other Indonesian men involved in the cases have fled.

   Under Vietnamese law, those who steal property valued at 500 million dong (28,000 dollars) or more can be sentenced to between twelve and twenty years in jail.

   The offenders may also be subject to a fine of between 5 and 50 million dong.