Arrest of wanted man over fatal botched robbery in Hong Kong puts notorious criminals and string of shoot-outs with police back in spotlight
- Arrest brings back memories of gunfights on the streets between police and armed gangs
- Hong Kong suffered wave of armed robberies because higher living standards than China made city easy target
Hong Kong authorities have taken into custody a man wanted in connection with an armed robbery and murder more than 30 years ago, putting a string of notorious hold-ups dating back decades back in the spotlight.
Police charged Wen Wenye, 59, on Monday with murder and the attempted robbery of a watch shop in Sham Shui Po in 1991. It is alleged his fingerprints matched those collected at the crime scene. He was arrested on Saturday as he entered the city through the Shenzhen Bay control point.
From dramatic gunfights to record-breaking bounties, here the Post looks at some of the criminals and cases that hit the headlines in the past.
Who were the most prominent masterminds?
A trio of criminals – Kwai Ping-hung, Yip Kai-foon, and Cheung Tze-keung – were known as the “Three Robber Kings of Hong Kong” because of their extensive criminal careers from the 1980s on.
They gained notoriety for their many shoot-outs, kidnappings and brazen armed robberies.
Only Kwai is still alive.
Kwai illegally entered Hong Kong from mainland China in 1980 and was suspected of committing 20 armed robberies over three decades. He also shot and wounded two police officers in Mong Kok in 2001.
Police put a record HK$2 million reward on Kwai’s head, and Interpol issued a red notice for him in July that year. He was arrested on Christmas Eve in 2003 after officers from the elite special duties unit made the biggest seizure of firearms in nearly 30 years. He was jailed for 24 years in 2005.
Kwai was released from Stanley Prison in 2020 after 16 years behind bars and was deported to the United States because he held an American passport.
Hong Kong’s most wanted: a look at police bounties for notorious crimes
Yip was once Hong Kong’s most wanted man, with a police bounty of HK$1 million for information leading to his arrest announced in 1992 – the highest reward that authorities had offered at that time.
He moved to Hong Kong in 1979 from Guangdong province and became notorious for hold-ups of jewellery stores in the 1980s with a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle. He was jailed for 18 years in 1985, but escaped four years later from Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam.
Yip was recaptured after a shoot-out with police in 1996 and ordered to serve 41 years for convictions including possession and use of firearms, kidnapping and escaping custody.
He died in 2017 of lung cancer that had spread to his brain, two years before he was expected to be released. He was 55.
Cheung became infamous as a robber and kidnapper. He achieved notoriety after he kidnapped Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, the son of Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest individual, and Walter Kwok Ping-sheung of Sun Hung Kai Properties.
The two were released after Li’s family was said to have paid HK$800 million and Kwok’s HK$600 million.
Cheung, born in Yulin in Guangxi province but brought up in Hong Kong, spent three years in jail for his role in a HK$167 million robbery at the old Kai Tak airport in 1991, but the conviction was quashed on appeal in 1995.
He was executed in Guangdong in 1998 after being convicted of a string of crimes. He was 43.
What were some of the most notable cases?
A gang of seven, including members of a syndicate run by Kwai, robbed the Time Watch Company in Tsim Sha Tsui in May 1995, which resulted in a gunfight with police where 126 shots were fired, the most in a single criminal incident in the history of Hong Kong.
The gang was captured by the special duties unit on Sing Woo Road in Happy Valley four months later.
Footage shows 4 armed robbers hold up Hong Kong store, flee with 70 watches
The Post reported in June 1991 that Yip had snatched HK$5.7 million worth of gold and jewellery from five shops in Kwun Tong. Yip and five other robbers, armed with AK-47 rifles and handguns, were alleged to have fired 54 shots at police.
Cheung was alleged to have been one of three gunmen who in 1991 stormed a security van, tied up the guards and escaped with HK$167 million in cash at the old Kai Tak airport.
He spent three years behind bars after he was found guilty of the robbery, but the conviction was quashed on appeal in 1995.
Why were armed robberies rife in the 1980s and 1990s?
Hong Kong often saw “hails of bullets” on the streets because of frequent armed robberies over the two decades.
Hong Kong’s prosperous economy was in stark contrast to mainland China’s relatively poor living standards from the 1980s on, only recently having moved on from the Cultural Revolution.
Hong Kong seemed like a gold mine and an easy target for robberies, especially at upmarket jewellery and watch shops.
But, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, many of the most high-profile crooks had been caught and jailed and living standards on the mainland had improved, so the number of major armed robberies in the city decreased.
How did Hong Kong react to the high-profile crimes?
The string of armed robberies in Hong Kong shocked the public, but also provided inspiration for the city’s filmmakers.
Long Arm of the Law, released in 1984, was based on the hijack and robbery of a security van. The film won multiple accolades, including best director at the 21st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. The film was so popular that it became a four-film franchise, with the three sequels released in 1987, 1989 and 1990.
