Mail order gang send jewels to HK

A HONGKONG-based ''hole-in-the-wall'' gang is believed to be responsible for a succession of jewellery robberies across Japan in which more than 1.5 billion yen (HK$100 million) of gold and gems were stolen and then posted to Hongkong.

Tokyo police said last week the four-man gang broke into jewellery shops and department stories across the country from Yokohama, Osaka to Fukuoka and Kagoshima prefectures on the southern island of Kyushu, using drills, cutters and power hammers.

''They are not violent - they just dug a hole in the wall in jewellery shops using electric drills or a hydrogen gun when the stores were closed,'' said Inspector Kurihara, of Kanagawa police.

The daring gang then made off with large amounts of gold bracelets and rings, diamonds, emeralds and sapphires from the robberies but, according to Inspector Kurihara, none of the pieces was unique or valuable enough as to be easily identifiable.

Only about half the gang's haul to date has been recovered.

Police in Kyoto seized a parcel at the post office containing JPY800 million of jewellery stolen from a department store in Kitakyushu. The gang had sent it to Hongkong, but it was returned when nobody claimed it.

Police believe the gold and gems - which were mailed by regular post after each burglary - were fenced in Hongkong and Taiwan.