Hong Kong police hunt trio accused of robbing six people of more than HK$35,000 at Mong Kok gambling den
- Hold-up happened in a 10th-floor flat on Nathan Road, close to Mong Kok Police Station, around 5am
- Separately, female visitor from mainland China was robbed of HK$10,000 at knifepoint at her hotel room in Sai Ying Pun
Hong Kong police are on the hunt for three men who posed as plain-clothes officers and robbed six people of more than HK$35,000 (US$4,515) at an illegal gambling den in Mong Kok before daybreak on Thursday.
The hold-up happened in a 10th-floor flat in the Cosmopolitan Centre on Nathan Road at around 5am, according to police. The building is about 100 metres (110 yards) from Mong Kok Police Station.
The three men, aged between 20 and 30, reportedly told a security guard they were police officers while entering the building.
A police source said the trio then went to the building’s 10th floor, used a crowbar to prise open the front door of one of the flats, and robbed six people – five women and a man.
Soon after the robbers left, the incident was reported to police.
Officers scouted the area, but no arrests were made.
A spokesman said investigations revealed the flat was used as a gambling den, and officers arrested the six people inside.
One of the women, aged 61, was arrested on suspicion of operating the den, while the other five people, aged between 29 and 58, were arrested for gambling unlawfully.
In Hong Kong, gambling in an illegal establishment carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a HK$30,000 fine. Operating a gambling establishment carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a HK$5 million fine.
The Mong Kok anti-triad squad is handling the case.
Police smash gambling racket that used arcade machines for betting games
Separately, a female visitor from mainland China was robbed of HK$10,000 at knifepoint at her hotel room in Sai Ying Pun at about 11pm on Wednesday.
The incident happened when the doorbell rang and the woman, 38, answered the door at the Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View hotel on Queen’s Road West.
“When she opened the door, the robber brandished a knife and asked her to hand over money,” another police source said.
The man, thought to be aged about 30, fled after the woman got HK$10,000 from a safe and handed over the money to him.
Officers combed the area, but found no trace of the man. The robber, about 1.7 metres tall and stocky, was wearing a surgical mask, a cap, a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of white sport shoes.
Police said no one was injured in the two cases.
Hong Kong has recorded a sharp rise in reports of robbery this year. Police figures show there were 186 robberies in the first half of this year, up 322 per cent from 44 over the same period last year.
