Six mainland Chinese women held after HK$1.5m diamond theft at Hong Kong jewellery show

Mainland thieves eluded heavy security and stole two three-carat diamonds worth about HK$1.5 million by swapping the gems with fakes just an hour after Hong Kong's biggest international jewellery show opened at the airport yesterday.

Four female visitors from the mainland were arrested, but only one of the two diamonds was recovered. The other gem, valued at about HK$500,000, was missing, according to police.

Senior inspector Abraham Yu Pok-hon, of New Territories South regional crime unit, said the four women, aged from 25 to 35, were probably part of a gang which came to the city to raid the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show at the AsiaWorld-Expo.

Yu noted that police had introduced heavy security at the venue as thieves persistently strike at the annual event.

Two of the well-dressed women posed as clients. They asked staff to show them a three-carat diamond at one of the booths at 11.15am.

Staff members suspected the diamond had been swapped and stopped the two women aged 29 and 30. They alerted police, who arrested the pair after officers recovered the diamond worth HK$980,000 from the suspects. A fake gem was found at the scene.