Store thieves in Richmond, Vancouver target ginseng

Canadian federal police are investigating a spate of thefts targeting Vancouver-area Chinese herbal medicine shops, in which brazen criminals made off with ginseng and other products worth tens of thousands of dollars.

At least some of the thefts may have been committed by the same gang, who are apparently well versed in traditional Chinese medicine and only bother stealing the most valuable products.

In the most recent crime, two men broke into the Tung Yun Tong Herbal store in Richmond on the morning of December 8 and made off with goods worth more than C$100,000 (HK$780,000) including a haul of precious American wild ginseng root.

Jason Zhu, an assistant at the well-known store, said last week that it was clear the thieves knew what they were after.

The pair of thieves - one short and slim, the other taller and fat - can be seen in the store's CCTV footage, although they obscure their faces with masks and hoods the entire time. The slender thief enters through a bent-open gap in a metal door, setting off an alarm, while his bulky accomplice nervously paces outside.

Inside, the small thief, armed with a crowbar, heads straight for the ginseng before moving on to the birds' nests and dried sea cucumbers, clambering across the glass counter to reach the higher, more expensive jars. He makes several trips back and forth, passing the loot to his partner outside, and prises open the cash register for good measure.

The entire pre-dawn robbery lasts 11 minutes. A pair of police officers arrive nine minutes too late.