Police from Huangpu district catch 12 suspects from Southeast Asia that allegedly stole more than 1,000 items of clothing from major retail stores in Shanghai on May 19.Photo: courtesy of Huangpu District Public Security Bureau.

 

Stolen T-shirts are found in the suspects' hotel room by police in Shanghai. Photo: courtesy of Huangpu District Public Security Bureau.

 

Police in Shanghai have uncovered two gangs of foreign thieves, arresting 19 suspects and confiscating clothing worth 300,000 yuan ($48,810), according to a police statement released to the Global Times on Thursday.

The suspects allegedly stole nearly 1,500 items of clothing from multinational retail clothing companies such as Zara, H&M, Uniqlo and Forever 21 in Shanghai in an attempt to resell the products in their home country. 

One of the female suspects, Nguyen Thimai, is from Vietnam, according to the official Sina microblog of the Office of Coordination Group for the Campaign to Crack Down on Organized Crimes, an office directly under the Ministry of Public Security. 

Police from Huangpu district in Shanghai declined to reveal the nationality of the suspects but said they all came from the same country.

The two gangs only aimed at small-sized clothing and purposely kept tags intact, according to the police statement.

On May 19, police became suspicious when a young woman was spotted with a very large bag. She was sorting through clothes in the Zara and Gap stores, and later left quickly when she noticed someone was following her. She was stopped by police before taking a cab.  

An initial investigation showed that she had arrived in Shanghai four days previously with 11 compatriots, who all stayed in a budget hotel in Huangpu district. Later that night, police broke into the rooms when four other females returned with huge bags. The 11 suspects, four males and seven females, had stolen and stored more than 1,000 items of clothing in two rooms.

The gang members admitted that they cooperated during the thefts. One team was in charge of attracting the attention of shop assistants; while the other team put clothes in the bag and transferred them to male team members outside.

There were members standing outside as lookouts who would inform others to leave once there's a sign of danger.

On May 23, police caught another five foreigners from the same country in front of Forever 21 in Nanjing Lu Pedestrian Street, who had stolen 400 items of clothing. Two more suspects from the same ring were also caught that night.

The suspects admitted they only came to Shanghai for theft, and the bags they used were able to block the exit security alarms.

"Thieves steal everything they can from our shop, from small accessories to trousers," said a shop assistant surnamed Liang, who works in an H&M store on Nanjing Xilu in Shanghai. The store has three security guards, and catches around five shoplifters per month.

"Some foreign kids steal as well," Liang said.  

Gao Ming, director of the Shanghai Wanfang Law Firm, told the Global Times that with gang crime involved, suspects will face more severe charges.

"The suspects could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail," said Gao, adding that they  would most likely be deported after they served the sentence.