2 men, woman arrested in connection with HK$6.1 million raid on upmarket Hong Kong watch store, taking total detained to 9

Hong Kong police have arrested three more people in connection with a HK$6.1 million (US$780,000) smash-and-grab watch raid in a premier shopping district. Police said on Thursday the detentions took the number of people taken into custody over the theft of 25 luxury watches from a shop in Causeway Bay on February 28 to nine. Senior Inspector Ng Kam-chung of the Hong Kong Island regional crime unit said the three arrested were a 19-year-old woman and two men aged 24 and 27. Officers said the three, arrested in Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon City and Sham Shui Po on Wednesday, were holders of Hong Kong identity cards. Ng said officers discovered 13 luxury watches during a raid on a Kowloon City flat occupied by the woman, originally from Thailand. Twelve of the watches were stolen from the Causeway Bay store last month and estimated to be worth about HK$2 million, he said, adding: “[The arrestees] were suspected of obtaining the stolen watches from robbers and handling the stolen goods.” He said that police tracked the three down after officers studied several hundred hours of security camera footage. Ng added the other watch – made by prestige Swiss manufacturer Patek Philippe – could be linked to another watch store raid in Tsim Sha Tsui last December. A source familiar with the case said officers were investigating whether it was one stolen in a 37-second heist at the Alpha Watch and Jewellery store on Granville Road in on December 12. Twenty-seven watches worth a total of HK$39 million from a variety of high-end makers were stolen in the robbery, which was similar to the Causeway Bay one. The Tsim Sha Tsui haul included other Swiss brands such as Richard Mille, with one made by firm worth HK$4.6 million, the most expensive of the haul. Other top brands taken included Audemars Piguet, F.P. Journe and Breguet. Hong Kong police hunt gang behind HK$8 million watch heist Police arrested three suspected members of the gang within 24 hours of the Tsim Sha Tsui raid. Security camera footage showed an unmasked man wearing a white long-sleeve shirt walking into the Alpha Watch and Jewellery store on Granville Road, followed by four others. Police said one of those arrested was alleged to have been the unmasked man who posed as a customer to ring the doorbell of the store. Staff let him in and four others rushed in behind him. The trio arrested in connection with the Causeway Bay incident were detained on suspicion of handling stolen goods – an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. They were still being held for questioning on Thursday afternoon. Ng said police continued to investigate others believed to have been involved in the robbery. He added police were also trying to track down the other 13 watches stolen from the Legend Success Timepiece store on Causeway Bay’s Foo Ming Street on February 28. A video posted online showed three black-clad individuals, all wearing gloves, swinging into action after a woman customer entered the shop. One of the robbers, wielding a knife, grabs the woman from behind and throws her out of the shop. She falls onto the pavement before two more robbers, with a sledgehammer and a bag, rush into the store. The video shows the robber with the sledgehammer smashing the glass display cases while the other one grabs watches and stuffs them into the bag before fleeing. Hong Kong police hunt gang behind 37-second, HK$40 million watch robbery Police said the gang fled in a getaway car driven by a fourth suspect. Police rounded up three women and three male Indonesian nationals, aged between 26 and 35, between March 13 and 14. Those detained included four overstayers and one torture claimant. The force said the nine arrested included a woman accused of working with the gang and opening the door for the robbers. Police believe she pretended to be a customer at the store to help the others get inside. Police said five of those detained included the alleged male robber armed with a knife, another woman said to have been responsible for grabbing the watches, with the rest said to have played supporting roles. Police said that three of those arrested had been charged with robbery. Police handled 97 robberies last year, a 26 per cent increase on the 77 cases logged in 2022.