Two Thieves and One Fence Sent to Prosecution in Custody
A gang that stole mobile phones from passengers asleep on the subway and smuggled them overseas has been handed over to the prosecution.
On the 27th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Subway Police Unit announced that they had arrested two men, Mr. A in his 60s and Mr. B in his 50s, on charges of theft under the Special Act, and a 30-year-old Uzbek man, Mr. C, who purchased the stolen phones from them and smuggled them overseas, on charges of receiving stolen goods.
Mr. A and Mr. B are accused of stealing mobile phones from passengers asleep on the subway from September to early November this year, selling each phone to the fence Mr. C for between 100,000 and 500,000 won. Mr. C, who was illegally staying in the country, bought 10 phones from them for a total of 2.11 million won, then concealed each phone inside air cargo shipments or smuggled them to Uzbekistan through peddlers, making an illicit profit of 70,000 to 100,000 won per phone.
According to the police investigation, the thieves, including Mr. A, targeted only subway cars without CCTV and contacted Mr. C via public phones to conduct secret transactions inside buildings or alleyways, evading the investigation.
After receiving a report in September from a victim who said, "I fell asleep on the subway and my phone disappeared," the police analyzed over 200 CCTV cameras to identify Mr. A and Mr. B and sequentially arrested Mr. C. It was found that Mr. A had 11 prior convictions and Mr. B had 25 prior convictions related to theft.
A police official said, "As the year-end and New Year period brings many drinking gatherings, citizens need to be especially cautious when using the subway to return home," and added, "Since thieves target mobile phones due to their high liquidity, please keep your phones in bags or inner pockets."
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