Two men arrested for HK$15 million suitcase robbery, as Hong Kong police hunt for six others
- One suspect arrested in raid on Tung Chung flat, while other was caught during stop-and-search in Kowloon City
Hong Kong police arrested two Pakistani men early on Thursday morning in connection with a HK$15 million (US$1.9 million) armed robbery in a hotel room just hours before.
By 5pm, a citywide police search was still under way for six other South Asian men who had made off with bags full of cash taken from a Sha Tin hotel.
The robbery took place on Wednesday night. Officers said it seemed the victims – three men and one woman – arrived at the Regal Riverside Hotel on Tai Chung Kiu Road, Sha Tin, and entered a room at 8.21pm. They planned to meet a business partner there, to exchange some US banknotes, police said.
“There was a South Asian man inside the room when the door was opened. Another five South Asian men pushed the four into the room. They drew knives and threatened the victims,” a law enforcement source said. The four were tied up before the robbers made off with the cash in a rucksack, a suitcase and a handbag.
Superintendent Leung Kwok-wing of New Territories South regional crime unit said the gang also stole mobile phones and watches from the four victims in the robbery, which lasted two to three minutes.
The source said it was possible the gang had set up a bogus transaction to get hold of the money. The woman was an intermediary who had arranged the transaction, and the three men – two Hong Kong identity card holders and a Taiwanese passport holder – were from a money changer.