CCTV footage of 12-year-old diamond thief sent to mainland China police

Police will ask mainland authorities to help identify a gang who used a young girl to steal a HK$36 million diamond necklace from a jewellery store last week.

Detectives have been placed at border checkpoints in the hope of spotting the Putonghua-speaking gang.

Friday's heist saw two women and a man distract staff at Emperor Jeweller in Tsim Sha Tsui's 1881 Heritage mall by asking to look at items on one side of the shop. The girl, thought to be aged about 12 to 14, calmly picked up a master key behind the counter and took the necklace from a display cabinet.

"We are investigating whether the gang had inside information on where the master key was hidden," the source said.

Investigations indicated that the gang had an accomplice who met the girl after she walked out of the shop with the necklace in the pocket of her windbreaker.

"CCTV footage also showed the man had visited the shop on January 18," the source said. Yau Tsim Mong district crime squad is poring over more than 200 CCTV tapes to work out their escape route.