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SCMP Reporter

GANGS of mobile phone thieves are working Mongkok and selling stolen handsets on the mainland, local shop managers say.

 Operators of phone shops in Mongkok said there was also a triad-run black market in mobile phones in the area, with hawkers dealing in stolen handsets.

 'Stealing of mobile phones seems more serious at present,' said Alex Kwong Wing-hung, owner of Hanson Mobile Phone Centre in Sincere House, Argyle Street.

 He said stolen phones were rarely offered to legitimate shops in Hong Kong because dealers usually took the name and identity card number of every seller.

 But no such practice existed on the mainland and Mr Kwong believed there was a thriving market there, especially in units able to run on the GSM network used over the border.

 Second-hand mobile phones in good condition are believed to fetch between one-third and half the price of a new unit.

 Eric Liu Tsz-pan, a sales assistant at Telecom World, which also sells new and second-hand mobile phones in Sincere House, said: 'The resale market in mobile phones is quite active.

 'Some people are stealing phones in Mongkok for the local and mainland market.'  Lung Chiu, of nearby Kong Lung Technology Communication Company, said one in 10 people he knew with a mobile phone had had them stolen in Mongkok.

 Thieves were picking pockets and handbags, sometimes slitting bags with blades to steal phones they had just seen users put away.

 Mr Lung said phones able to run only on the local PCS network were those most likely to end up on the local black market.

 Police would not comment on claims gangs were operating in the area.

 Neither police nor the major mobile networks - Hutchison, SmarTone and Hongkong Telecom - would provide figures on the number of mobile phones stolen.

 They said subscribers who lost their phones or had them stolen should immediately have their service cut off and contact police.



Gangs steal phones for mainland customers