Hainan police have broken up a car-theft gang suspected of
making away with as many as 200 cars worth 60 million yuan (US$7.2
million) during the past two years.
The ring is the biggest of its kind in south China's Hainan
Province since 1949, said Haikou Municipal Bureau of Public
Security officials at a press conference on December 26.
The gang is believed to have been responsible for nearly all of
the thefts of high-end cars during the past two years in Haikou,
the provincial capital.
So far, 46 suspects have been arrested and 82 cars recovered.
Two guns were also seized, and two garages used to strip the stolen
cars and change their license plates were found and closed.
The gang is suspected to have committed its first theft when a
Honda was stolen from a parking lot in downtown Haikou in July
2002. By the time it was shut down, the group had taken a total of
200 cars of 12 different models.
Wen Zhineng, the first suspect, was arrested on October 27 this
year. One car was recovered that day. Two days later, his brother,
Wen Zhigang, was apprehended.
Over the next two months, police traveled to 12 provinces and
autonomous regions, from Fujian
in the east to Tibet
in the west, to catch other gang suspects.
PSB officials state that Wen Zhineng admitted that he came to
Haikou in 2002 after being released from prison, where he was
serving a four-year term for auto theft. Wen was paroled after
serving about two years of his sentence.
While Wen and other suspects stole the cars, others changed the
appearance and identification numbers of the vehicles. After gang
leader Li Qi arranged for the sales of the vehicles, other members
delivered them throughout the country.
Local police believe other suspects are still at large. The
investigation is continuing in an effort to catch them and retrieve
more of the stolen cars.
(China Daily December 28, 2004)